Honey-Mustard Chicken with Olives and Spring Onions

Here I am, back again with another easy peasy dish. One of my favourite easy dishes, because you do so little and it tastes so good.

You literally mix together honey and mustard, with a little olive oil, throw that on some chicken, throw some rosemary, olives and spring onions and chuck it in the oven for 45 minutes, and voila.. Dinner is served. You don't even need to marinate it and it's plenty flavourful. The ingredients are few and mostly things you may already have, and if you don't you might want to start making sure you have them so you can throw this dish together on a lazy day.

You can change the recipe around a bit to whatever suits you. I've tried it with more mustard than honey, and more honey than mustard (everyone preferred more mustard), I've made it without the olives and spring onions, but everyone fighting over the olives tell me they prefer it in there (and a lot of it in there). We usually serve it with rice, but I would like to try it next time with some steamed baby potatoes, extra honey-mustard mixture to spoon on top of the potatoes and a nice salad. Try it and try and tell me it won't make your lazy day menu.

Honey-Mustard Chicken with Olives and Spring Onions

 Serves 4

(Adapted from Simply Recipes)

100 ml Dijon mustard*

100 ml honey

1 tablespoon olive oil

Around 1 kg of chicken pieces (we use a mixture of chicken thighs, legs and breast as everyone likes different pieces. Use the pieces you and your family prefer)

salt

2-3 sprigs rosemary

Green olives, however much you like/prefer (around 300-400 grams)

3 spring onions, roughly chopped

black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). 

In a large bowl, mix mustard with the honey, and olive oil. Add a pinch of salt and taste. Add more salt and mustard until you get the flavor where you want it. The mustard flavor may be a bit strong, but once cooked it's not as strong. Salt the chicken lightly and lay the pieces skin-side up in a shallow casserole dish. Spoon the honey mustard sauce over the chicken. Place the rosemary sprigs, olives and spring onions in between the pieces of chicken.

Bake for 45 minutes, until the chicken is cooked or the juices run clear when the meat is pierced with a knife. Remove the casserole pan from the oven, use a spoon to spoon off any excess chicken fat that has rendered during the cooking.

Sprinkle some freshly ground black pepper over the chicken before you serve. Serve with a rice, potatoes or a salad on a summers day.

*For those who don't want a strong mustard kick, I have accidentally tried it with honey-dijon mustard and it was on the sweeter side with less of a kick. We still loved it.