A Family That Eats Together: Lavender Roasted Chicken with Roasted Spring Carrots and Fennel

Marin Mommies presents this week's guest recipe from Nicole Cibellis, Marin mom and author of the blog A Family that Eats Together, where she shares meal plans and recipes that will please foodies and children alike. Nicole is also the creator of the new Little Froglet line of children's activewear. Here's Nicole's meal plan for this week.

Lavender is just one of those smells that gently suggests bliss to me. I love it in many dishes, especially ice cream, but when I ran across this recipe, I thought “Of course”—it would be just perfect with roast chicken. The French use lavender in their Provençal dishes all the time; why not make it the star ingredient. In this effortless dish, lavender transforms the chicken into something unique and will pleasantly surprise you with flavors and aromas that will make everyone run to the dinner table.

Note: Be sure to use culinary lavender found on the spice aisle of the grocery store. Also, choose a honey that is not overwhelming and subtle.

Recipe Adapted from Rachel Khoo

Servings: 8
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Inactive Time: 45+ minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken, cut up into parts

For the marinade:

• 1 tablespoon dried edible lavender
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Leaves of 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme (or ½ tsp dried thyme)
• 4 tablespoons good quality olive oil
• 4 tablespoons honey
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of 1 lemon, freshly squeezed
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Place the lavender in the mortar and crush it with the pestle, cracking open the dried buds. If you don't have a mortar and pestle, place the lavender on a clean surface, like your kitchen counter or a cutting board, and crush it with the back of a wooden spoon.
2. In a large bowl or large plastic zip locked bag, add the lavender, garlic, thyme, olive oil, honey, lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper. Mix well with a spoon.
3. Add the chicken and coat them well with the marinade. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or close the bag. Allow the chicken to marinate for at least 45 minutes, or up to 4 hours. If you choose to marinate the chicken for more than 1 hour, place it in the refrigerator. Take it out of the fridge 20 minutes before you put it in the oven, to allow it to come to room temperature.
4. Preheat your oven to 400ºF.
5. Place the marinated chicken in a oven safe baking dish large enough to fit all the pieces in one layer. Drizzle the marinade on top.
6. Place the pan in the oven for 40-45 minutes, until the chicken becomes golden brown and the skin becomes crispy and caramelized.
7. Serve the chicken along with the delicious juices from the pan.

I prepared roasted carrots and fennel to accompany this dish by simply, placing them on a baking sheet with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Just place them on a rack lower than the chicken while it roasting. They cook in the same amount of time as the chicken.