Crispy spiced chicken with hummus vinaigrette

I've been wanting to try this recipe for a while because 1. there's hummus involved 2. it's healthy and 3. it just sounds delicious! I loved the idea of pomegranates and pistachios with the couscous dressed in a hummus vinaigrette and baked crispy chicken; now will it taste as good as it sounds?

Crispy Spiced Chicken with Hummus Vinaigrette

Recipe from Food and Wine

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

4 chicken drumsticks

4 chicken thighs

1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp ground coriander

salt and freshly ground pepper

4 cups cooked couscous

1/2 cups coarsely chopped roasted pistachios

1/2 cups pomegranate seeds

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley

1 cup prepared hummus

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. In a bowl, toss the chicken with 2 tbsp of the oil and the coriander; season with salt and pepper. Arrange the chicken on a rack set over a baking sheet, skin side up. Roast in the upper third of the oven for 35 minutes, turning twice, until the chicken is cooked through. Turn on the broiler and broil for 2 minutes, until the skin is crisp and golden.
2. Meanwhile, in a bowl, toss the couscous with the pistachios, pomegranate seeds and 1/2 cup of the parsley. In a blender, puree the hummus and vinegar with the remaining 1 cup of parsley and 1/4 cup of oil. Add 2 tbsp of water and puree until smooth. Season the dressing with salt and pepper.
3. Stir one-third the dressing into the couscous and transfer to a platter. Arrange the chicken on top and serve right away, passing the extra dressing on the side.

Nutritional Analysis:
per serving: 606 calories, 32.3g fat (5.0g saturated, 7.1g polyunsaturated, 18.4g monounsaturated),  56.9g carbohydrates, 9.5g fiber, 24.8g protein

**Helpful tips and common mistakes

Although this recipe calls for 4 chicken thighs and 4 chicken drumsticks, I decided to use whole chicken. I seasoned inside the cavity and outside with salt, pepper, and coriander and rubbed the olive oil all around the chicken. I also stuffed the cavity with about 8 cloves of garlic.

  

Roast the chicken at 400 degrees F for about 1 hour or until the internal temperature reads 160 degrees. Allow the chicken to rest 15 minutes before cutting into portions.

To remove the pomegranate seeds from the membrane, just follow these simple steps. First, cut off the top stem of the fruit. Using your knife, cut slits around the fruit, but do not cut through the fruit. Using those slits, split the pomegranate in half or into smaller sections (be careful you're not wearing white when performing this step! The juice may squirt at you and stain your clothes!). Soak the pomegranate in room temperature water, cut sides facing down. After ten minutes, carefully remove the seeds without rupturing them. The white membrane will float to the top while the seeds sink to the bottom of the water. If you tap the outside of the pomegranate, the seeds should also easily fall out.

When making the hummus vinaigrette, half add the amount of the vinegar. If you find it needs more acidity, add more to your taste. I made the mistake of adding the full 1/4 cup of vinegar and boy was it tart! For a great recipe for homemade hummus go to http://cherryonmysundae.blogspot.com/2012/05/flap-meat-beef-kebabs-with-hummus.html. 

The verdict? The overall dish was simple and clean tasting; however, the hummus vinaigrette was a bit too tart to my tasting. It eventually grew on me but others weren't too fond of the sauce. The chicken, on the other hand, was juicy, moist and nicely seasoned. The couscous was lovely with the bursts of the pomegranates and the bits of pistachios; although the couscous was sauced with the hummus vinaigrette, because of the other components, it was not too tart. To complete the meal, I served this dish with herbed naan. 

Edit: I just used the leftover chicken to make a delicious salad and used the hummus vinaigrette as the salad dressing; the dressing was much better used for a salad than as a dip. It was in fact, very tasty!