chicken marbella 👩🍳🩶
Welcome to those who were just scanning the web and serendipitously landed on my humble site 👋 whether you are in a rut and don’t know what to make; are in that loop of “sooo, what do you want to eat tonight?”; or have fallen into the infinite black hole of saved recipes from social media (the internet is truly ultimate purveyor of maximalist TL;DR content overwhelm 😵💫🫠🤭). I hope you enjoy — it brings me great joy to sprinkle any ease into your life — cheers to your good health, good love & good fortune!
And per my usual caveat, I do not claim to be a doctor or a chef. I do not dream of being a fancy food blogger. I’m just a gal who enjoys living and eating for optimum well-being. I like to creatively alter, and occasionally create, recipes to make them as balanced as possible, in both taste and health. I’ve come to learn soul-food and body-fueling food are both real and equally important, hence the critical importance and beauty of mind-body-soul eating! ✨ I typically like to begin with a key ingredient or two that I’m hoping to work with, search for a preexisting recipe as a guide, then play with measurements and make swaps to level up nutrient density. Consider this a destination for healthy recipe inspiration, where you’ll never have to scroll through any continuously re-populating ads. One of my primary goals is to add a little simplicity in places I’ve found murky.
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In case you are not familiar with the iconic Chicken Marbella recipe form the famed Silver Palate Cookbook, you are in for a treat! I had the chicken for the first time a little over a decade ago and I had no idea it wasn’t a multi-generationally passed down recipe from centuries past Spanish great, great grandmothers. I assumed I just simply was not cultured enough to have heard of. To my inspired delight, this epic recipe was created by two American women, Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso, who ran a legendary small takeaway shop in NYC that prepared brilliantly sophisticated meals for the grab-and-go crowd. Chicken Marbella debut in their 1982 cookbook and being an 80’s baby of an incredible cook with a line of cheffy women on both sides of my family, I’m still shocked this didn’t enter my life until adulthood. Thankfully, it’s better late that never! This chicken is hands down the greatest, most comforting chicken I have ever had in my life. It hits every umami note and has been mind blowingly delicious with every iteration I’ve concocted. For the below, I worked from the guide on Bowl of Delicious, but you really can find versions of this chicken all over the internet.
It may feel too appallingly sacrilegious for many, but I typically only make chicken breast, so I’ve veered from the classic thighs per the original recipie. We keep it simple and lean at our house. I also love to cut chicken breasts thin, slicing down the center, so we mentally get double the chicken breasts from one recipe, and plus, we generally prefer meat cooked thin in our house. But it all comes down to your own personal preference — so only follow my notes it if doesn’t feel too against the grain for your own tastes 😉
My spin on the icon as follows:
INGREDIENTS
1 ½ lbs organic free-range chicken breasts
8 cloves organic garlic peeled and crushed
2 tbsp dried oregano or if available, 1/4 c organic fresh oregano, chopped
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper plus more if needed
¼ c organic red wine vinegar
¼ c organic EVOO
½ c organic pitted prunes, roughly chopped
½ c organic pitted green olives, smashed and halved
¼ c organic capers + 1 tbsp of the juice
⅓ c coconut sugar
½ c free range organic chicken bone broth or organic dry white wine
¼ c organic parsley, chopped
OPTIONAL, BUT RECOMMENDED
Side of organic sprouted quinoa rinsed and prepared with free range organic chicken bone broth
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Trim fat from chicken breasts and using a sharp knife, slice breast thin down the center.
2. In a large bowl, combine garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, red wine vinegar, EVOO, prunes, olives, capers and caper juice. If using bone broth instead of wine, also add broth and coconut sugar. Then add chicken to the mix and massage until combined. Cover and refrigerate, ideally overnight if time allows. // Note: I most recently marinated for under an hour and the chicken was still delectable — when the chicken breast is thin, marinating for even as little as 30 minutes, will make a marked difference.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Using tongs, place the marinated chicken in a baking dish. Spoon the marinade on top of the chicken. Sprinkle breasts with coconut sugar if cooking with wine. Then pour the white wine around the chicken, rather than over the chicken so that marinade and brown sugar are not rinsed off.
4. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked.
5. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken, capers, olives and prunes to a serving dish. Sprinkle with parsley and top with a little of the juices. Pour the remaining juice in a serving dish to pour onto individually plated chicken, as desired.
6. Plate with prepared quinoa so juices of the chicken can be fully enjoyed!
CLICK PHOTO ON FAR RIGHT TO SEE ADDITIONAL IMAGES >
As with everything I make, I love to know the ingredients will fuel not only a beautiful plate, but a beautiful feeling inside. The goal truly is to eat to live, not to live to eat — no matter how incredible something taste’s, it’s also about how it tastes to our minds, bodies and souls that will keep that “deliciousness” with us long past the moment of actual consumption. I will again caveat, I’m not a nutritionist, but as holistic health coach I can confidently reaffirm —
1. The quality of our ingredients is essential!
2. Remember, less is more.
3. Think loving thoughts as you cook and your food will taste better! #truth
4. Always shop organic and in season whenever possible.
Cheers to your good health! XO
