One-Pan Maple, Orange and Pecan Chicken

Fancy an easy one pot chicken meal? This recipe by HIF foodie Helen from Scrummy Lane, combines sweet potatoes, fresh green beans, garlic, spinach, and tender chicken all marinated in a delicious sweet maple orange sauce, topped with crunchy pecan nuts. 

Ingredients

• 2 small or 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and chopped into small chunks
• 8 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
• a handful of green beans (about 3.5 ounces / 100 grams)
• 1 pound / 500 grams skinless boneless chicken thighs
• zest and juice of 1 orange
• 3 tablespooons maple syrup
• salt and pepper
• 2 large handfuls fresh baby spinach
• 1 handful pecan nuts

To serve

• fresh crusty bread, or rice

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 355F / 180C.
2. Add the sweet potato, garlic and green beans to a medium baking dish.
3. Tuck the chicken between the vegetables.
4. Whisk the zest and orange juice with the maple syrup. Drizzle the whole dish with a little cooking oil (about a tablespoon), then pour the juice / syrup over the chicken.
5. Grind over plenty of salt and pepper, then bake for 35 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the sweet potatoes are tender.
6. Ten minutes before the end of the cooking time, add the spinach, tucking it down into the sauce as much as possible, and sprinkle over the pecans.
7. Serve with the bread or rice.

Notes

• Squeeze the garlic into the juices as you eat. Delicious!