Everyday Spiced Chicken and Radishes

This easy chicken recipe is especially delicious and vibrant, with peppery radishes absorbing the savoury drippings of the chicken. It's a budget and healthy dinner that's easy to make for the family yet impressive enough for company. I like to toss the greens of the radishes with the pan juices until just wilted because they take on tons of flavour and provide the perfect bitter contrast. If the radish leaves ain’t fresh enough, you can use spinach or other greens. Or simply use arugula as the orginal recipe suggested.
If you’ve never roasted a radish, you’re seriously missing out. Eaten raw, radishes are crunchy in texture with a distinctively peppery bite, but once roasted and absorbed the luxurious chicken schmaltz, they are sweet, earthy and mellow...just like low-carb potatoes.

Everyday Spiced Chicken and Radishes

adapted from Food and Wine

Everyday Spice Blend
½ tbsp Sea salt 1 tbsp Black peppercorns 1 tsp Cumin seeds 1 tsp Fennel seeds ½ tsp Crushed red pepper 1 tsp Garlic powder 1 tsp Smoked paprika 1 tbsp Fresh rosemary, chopped	4 Bone-in, skin-on chicken legs (about 1.5 kg) 700 g Cherry radishes with greens (about 2 bunches), trimmed and halved lengthwise 4 tbsp Olive oil

For spice blend, combine salt, black peppercorns, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, and crushed red pepper in a small skillet. Cook over medium, stirring often, until lightly toasted and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Transfer to plate and let cool. With a mortar and pestle or spice grinder, grind to a coarse powder. Add chopped fresh rosemary, garlic powder, and paprika. Stir well to combine.
Cut the radish greens from the roots as soon as you get them home to keep them fresh. Submerge the greens in a large bowl of cold water, swishing them around to dislodge grit and dirt. Repeat the process until they are clean. Dry thoroughly using a salad spinner or kitchen paper towels. Half the radishes and set aside.
Preheat oven to 230C/450F. Coat the chicken legs with half of the olive oil and 2/3 of the spice blend and arrange them on a large baking dish. Toss the radish halves with remaining olive oil and spice blend, and scatter them in the spaces around the chicken legs.
Roast in the preheated oven until an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest portion of chicken registers 70C/160F, about 45 minutes. Divide the chicken legs among 4 plates. Add radish greens to the baking dish and toss everything together until the greens are just wilted. Serve them with the chicken.