This is inspired from the Whitewater Cooks Chicken Marbella recipe, which has been a staple in every Kootenay home (and beyond) for many years. I wanted to redo it to suit our dietary needs but not compromise all the beautiful flavours.

Please read all the ingredients and instructions before you get started so you know what’s what. Also know that while this may seem like it has a lot of ingredients and steps, it is very EASY but INCREDIBLY YUMMY.

It will seem like you worked in the kitchen all day long, when in fact you were chillin or doing something wonderful.

Enjoy!

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Ingredients

• 1 Whole Organic Chickens cut into pieces. Ask your butcher to do this if you want, they are a lovely and helpful bunch! You could also buy 3-5 lbs of organic chicken legs and thighs, I just find the whole chicken is the best price, and the chicken breasts turn out great cooked this way as well. (I normally cut them in half so they’re about the size of a thigh.)

• 6 Cloves Garlic peeled

• 1 TBSP Dried Oregano

• 1 tsp Sea Salt

• 1-2 tsp Pepper

• 1/4 Cup Olive Oil

• 1/4 Cup Pomegranate Vinegar, Red Wine Vinegar, OR Balsamic Vinegar.

• 1/2 Cup Pitted Prunes, Chopped. Be sure to get unsweetened and sulfate free.

• 1/4 Cup Dried Figs, Chopped. Be sure to get unsweetened and sulfate free.

• 1/4 Green Spanish Olives. Check the ingredients. Sometimes they have all kinds of strange things in them! They shouldn’t.

• OPTIONAL. I also added a 1/4 cup salty black olives that I got from the local deli, they were crazy to eat on their own but great in the marinade. The point here is to experiment and use what you have available. Be sure to check the ingredients… did I say that yet?

• 1/4 Cup Capers in brine, add a good splash of the liquid as well, and of course, check the ingredients. ;)

• 3 Bay Leaves

• 1/4 Cup Maple Syrup. Optional. I skipped it because I knew it would be sweet enough for us with all the dried fruit in it — but you do you!

• 1 Cup Chicken stock, or even water if you don’t have any stock!

• 2 TBSP Parsley to be sprinkled on once cooked.

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Instructions

1. Mix all the stuff (not the parsley) together in a dish with a lid.

2. Add the chicken and stir until it’s all coated and bathing in that delicious marinade.

3. Cover, place in the fridge, and marinate OVERNIGHT — or at least for the whole day while you’re out doing rad things. DON’T SKIP THIS STEP. It’s how all the flavours mix together to create magic.

4. Remove from fridge and carefully transfer chicken pieces to a baking dish (or 2) with enough space to fit the chicken so the pieces have room to get nice browning and crispy bits. Don’t pack them in!

5. Scoop or carefully pour all the goodness (marinade) overtop of the chicken pieces. Go slow! You don’t want to lose that delicious flavour all over your counter.

6. Bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit for 50 minutes.

   *I love that this is a slow and low recipe for cooking meat. When we cook meat at a high temperature the protein and fat in the meat interact with the heat to form some harmful business. Google that for more information!

   Also, cooking slow and low means the meat will come out juicier, more flavourful, and more tender! Yay!

7. Feel free to pop in now and then and scoop some of the marinade up over the chicken as it’s cooking.

8. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the fresh parsley for a beautiful meal. It looks fancy and tastes like you’ve been slaving ALL day long, but aside from a bit of chopping this is SO easy to make!

9. ENJOY!

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Final Thoughts

FEEL FREE TO DOUBLE THIS RECIPE! That’s how confident I am that you will love it… as long as you like delicious things. (Try with double the chicken but the same amount of marinade — if you need more you can always add more!)

Serve with a simple fresh green salad with a zingy salad dressing, some green beans, and spaghetti squash. Or try with mashed sweet potatoes or cauliflower rice.

The leftovers are amazing as they are, OR if you don’t have quite enough to feed everyone, I have chopped the chicken up along with a bunch of veggies (carrots, broccoli, celery, baby bok choy, onion, fresh peas, etc) and made a quick stir fry. SO GOOD! The sauce flavour transfers incredibly.

As with all recipes, this is just a guide. Use what you have and shift it to suit your dietary needs.

Let me know how it turns out and tag me on social so I can see how you’ve prepared it!

Happy guts,

Gwen