Cinnamon Chicken and Rice~Gluten and Dairy Free!
Serve this flavorful Lebanese chicken over rice, couscous, or quinoa! This recipe is gluten and dairy free.
Servings 6 servings
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
- 4 carrots, thinly sliced
- ½ cup Kamalata olives, pits removed
- 1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces -or- eight bone in skin on chicken thighs. (see notes below)
- ¼ cup good quality olive oil
- 6 large cloves garlic, peeled and chopped, minced or grated
- ½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about three lemons)
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (depending on how spicy you want your meal, you can also omit if you are sensitive to heat)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- salt and pepper to taste
Rice:
- 2 cups white rice, cooked to package instructions. Start the rice when chicken has 20 minutes left to cook.
Garnish:
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
- ¼ cup roasted pine nuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees and place oven rack in upper third position
- Place onions, thinly sliced carrots, and olives in a large baking dish. Place chicken, skin side up on top of onions, in one layer. Set aside..
- In a bowl, mix olive oil, garlic, two generous pinches of sea salt and pepper, lemon juice, paprika, cumin seeds, cinnamon and desired amount of cayenne pepper. Mix well.
- Pour evenly over chicken and vegetables. Season chicken generously with salt and pepper bake at 425 for 45 minutes. Then lower temperature to 375. bake for 15 more minutes.
- Remove from oven, allow to cool for ten minutes. Serve over rice and be sure to spoon that sauce over the rice for more flavor! Garnish with parsley and pine nuts.
Notes
Traditionally Cinnamon Chicken and Rice is made with a whole chicken cut into eight pieces: two breasts, two thighs, two wings and two legs. But if you need a little more meat, I recommend using eight chicken thighs. You can also use four bone-in skin on thighs and four small bone-in skin on breasts.