Roast Chicken Breasts With Wilted Greens & Garlic

By ltrodrigu

Ingredients

• Kosher salt
• 3/4 teaspoon sugar
• 2 1/2 pounds bone-in chicken breasts
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 head garlic, halved crosswise, plus 4 cloves, thinly sliced
• 6 rosemary sprigs
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into 4 pieces, plus 1 additional tablespoon
• 1/4 teaspoon chili flakes
• 1 pound chard, stems removed and torn into 1-inch pieces
• Juice of 1/2 lemon

Details

Servings 4
Adapted from wsj.com

Preparation

Step 1

Place a rack in bottom third of oven and slide a medium roasting pan onto rack. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Season chicken all over with sugar and 1 ½ teaspoons salt.

Set a deep, large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil and heat until it shimmers. Lay chicken, skin-side down, into hot pan. Once fat begins to render from chicken, after about 1 minute, arrange rosemary and garlic halves, cut-side down, around chicken. Cook until herbs and garlic are aromatic and browned, about 5 minutes. Move aromatics on top of chicken pieces and continue cooking until skin crisps and browns, about 5 minutes more.

3. Carefully remove preheated roasting pan from oven. Use tongs to transfer chicken pieces to roasting pan and arrange skin-side up. Place garlic and herbs on top of breasts once more, leaving drippings behind in skillet. Place a pat of butter on each breast and transfer pan to oven. Roast until meat is just cooked through, 7-10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, set skillet with drippings back over medium-high heat. Once hot, add sliced garlic and cook, swirling skillet constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add chili flakes and cook until aromatic, about 15 seconds. Add greens, toss to coat in drippings, and cook until wilted and tender, about 3 minutes. Turn off heat. Stir in remaining butter, season with lemon juice and salt to taste. Arrange chicken, skin-side up, over greens and pour all accumulated juices over top.