Twice-sauced chicken and carrots

Name: Twice-sauced chicken and carrots
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 cup full-fat yogurt; 2 tbsp honey; 2 tsp pickled jalapeño liquid, from the jar (plus sliced pickled jalapeños for serving, optional); 2 tsp ground cumin, divided; salt; 1 ½ lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, patted dry; 1 bunch medium carrots, scrubbed and halved lengthwise (1 to 1¼ lb, quarter the large ones); 2 tbsp olive oil; 2 tbsp fresh cilantro or parsley leaves, packed, gently torn

The marinade is the workhorse. You are merely decorative.

At a Glance

Time

40 min

Serves

Story

The yogurt marinade is doing three jobs at once. Its lactic acid tenderizes the chicken gently where harsher acids toughen it, the honey coaxes real browning out of a 400 degree oven, and the pickled jalapeño brine sneaks in heat and tang from a jar you were ignoring anyway.

Ingredients

1 cup full-fat yogurt
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp pickled jalapeño liquidfrom the jar (plus sliced pickled jalapeños for serving, optional)
2 tsp ground cumindivided
salt
1 ½ lb boneless skinless chicken thighspatted dry
1 bunch medium carrotsscrubbed and halved lengthwise (1 to 1¼ lb, quarter the large ones)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp fresh cilantro or parsley leavespacked, gently torn

Method

A punchy yogurt marinade, sweet roasted carrots and the same sauce twice, once as marinade and once cold over the top. Clever without showing off.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees with one rack centered and another about 6 inches from the broiler. Stir together the yogurt, honey, jalapeño liquid and 1½ teaspoons of the cumin. Scoop ½ cup of the sauce into a serving bowl, season it with salt and park it in the fridge.
Salt the chicken all over, then add it to the remaining marinade and coat well.
On a large sheet pan, toss the carrots with the oil, salt and the last ½ teaspoon of cumin. Spread them out, then nestle the chicken into the gaps, scraping off the excess marinade as you go.
Roast until the chicken is cooked through and lightly browned and the carrots are tender, about 25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway if it colors unevenly. If you want proper char, run it under the broiler for 1 to 2 minutes and do not walk away.
Shower with cilantro, add the pickled jalapeños if you like the drama, and drizzle the cold reserved sauce over everything.

Rice or warm bread underneath. The cold sauce against the hot honeyed carrots is the whole point, do not skip it.

On the pass