Print

Miso-Butter Chicken with Lentils and Pomelo

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

A flavorful Miso Butter Chicken with Pomelo and Lentils makes for a sophisticated one-dish meal suitable for weeknight cooking and elegant enough for entertaining.

Ingredients

Scale

For the lentils:

Note: lentils are optional in this dish, but If you have some on hand, I think they make an excellent addition.

  • Splash of olive oil
  • 1 small shallot, minced
  • 1 1/2 cup beluga or French De Puy lentils, rinsed
  • 4 cups chicken stock

For the sauce:

  • 6 T melted unsalted butter
  • 6 T white miso
  • 1/4 cup mirin
  • Zest from one pomelo

For the chicken:

  • 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or boneless, skinless chicken breast

For the salad:

  • 1 large or 2 small pomelo (I like this dish fruit forward, so feel free to be generous with the pomelo)
  • 5 ounces bitter greens (I like a mix of arugula, radicchio and spinach)
  • 1 cup cooked lentils
  • Prepped pomelo with pith and membrane removed

For the finishing sauce:

  • 1/4 cup of grapefruit juice

Instructions

For the lentils:

  1.  Put a splash of olive oil in a saucepan and add minced shallot. Sauté on medium heat until soft and the shallot just begins to color, about 4 – 5 minutes. Add the lentils and toast, stirring for a minute or two. Add chicken stock, turn up the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook to package instructions, about 15 – 20 minutes. Lentils should be al dente, firm, but cooked. Remove from heat, drain, and set aside.

For the sauce:

  1. Heat the oven to 425 degrees.
  2. While lentils are cooking, make the sauce. Whisk melted butter, white miso, mirin and pomelo zest together with a whisk until smooth.

For the chicken:

  1. Dry the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Place in a baking dish that can also be used on the stove. Scoop half of the miso butter sauce over the chicken and rub it into the pieces with your hands. Spread chicken pieces in a single layer in a 13 x 9 x 2″ metal roasting pan. The pan needs to be suitable for baking, broiling, and cooking on the stove. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, until internal temperature is 150 degrees F.
  2. Once the chicken is cooked through, run it under the broiler for a couple of minutes, just enough to brown the tops. Transfer cooked chicken to a plate to rest and collect residual juices. Save these juices for the final sauce. Once cool, slice the chicken into strips.
  3. Set the baking pan with the remaining juice on the stove and heat over medium. Add the grapefruit juice to the baking dish to deglaze the pan, stirring to incorporate any brown flavor bits that formed while the chicken was baking. Stir in the remaining reserved sauce as well as any juices that collected on the chicken plate and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook, stirring until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.
  4. Spread the greens and radicchio on a large platter and top with lentils, chicken pieces, and pomelo segments. Drizzle the sauce over everything. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

  1. See my post on how to prepare pomelo. It’s not hard once you know how. It can be a frustrating disaster if you don’t know the technique.
  2. This recipe makes enough for 6 to 8 people. I make the entire recipe for just my husband and I and we eat it for two nights plus some lunch. Not a drop goes to waste. It is that good.

Pin It on Pinterest

Shares
Share This