Cooking with Herbs: Lemon Herb Butter Chicken with Garlic & Herb Riced Cauliflower

Herbs are beautiful and accentuate the look of a dish, but oftentimes the nutritional value is overlooked. Anytime I cook I like to use a combination of herbs. If you aren’t using herbs you’re definitely missing out. Herbs not only give a missing flavor but also keep meals from missing out on health benefits. Eating nutritiously does not have to be devoid of flavor. Some of the most common herbs can help with a variety of ailments. For example, this dish uses sage and tarragon. Tarragon has been shown to assist with digestion by stimulating gastric juices and reducing inflammation in the body. Sage is rich in antioxidants and assists with protecting the cells in our bodies from free radicals. Sage also has been shown to aid with lowering cholesterol levels and boosting metabolism among other things. The wonderful world of herbs is vast, giving you a multitude of options and flavor profiles to explore when you’re in the kitchen. The variety of herbs around the world offers limitless choices for healing your body naturally.

This dish is a great expression of herbaceous flavor. The riced cauliflower is a perfect side as it has a mild flavor profile that is enhanced by the herbs spices. The tarragon is very pungent but also yields a bit of sweetness. This sweetness provides great balance and works well with the savory elements of garlic and onion. The chicken is moist and juicy. It compliments the flavor of the sage garlic butter with the dried oregano and garlic salt. The lemon juice adds some much needed citrus to complete the flavor and zest to the profile of this dish. All together, the elements form a creative meal of expressed herbs, citrus and savoriness. Give this recipe a try and I’m sure you will agree: we need more herbs in our lives!

Lemon Herb Butter Chicken 

Garlic & Herb Riced Cauliflower

Ingredients

4 skinless chicken thighs

8 tablespoons of Garlic salt

8 teaspoons of oregano

2 sticks of butter

4 tablespoons of lemon juice

8 tablespoons freshly chopped sage

2 heads of cauliflower finely chopped

8 tablespoons of freshly chopped tarragon

1 cup white onion finely chopped

4 tablespoons of minced garlic

Instructions

Chicken

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Put your chicken in a bowl, add olive oil, season and mix the chicken to evenly coat with seasonings.  Use an oven safe pan lined with foil.  Place your chicken in your pan and place the pan in the oven.

Garlic and Herb Butter

Use a small sauce pot and melt butter in the sauce pot.  When fully melted, add chopped sage and garlic.  Allow the flavors to infuse on low heat. Finish with lemon juice.

Riced Cauliflower

Cut the root of the cauliflower off.  Continue to chop until you have small fine pieces.  Use a large sauté pan - add oil to your pan and put pan on medium heat.  Add finely chopped cauliflower and onion and allow to cook for 3 minutes.  Add paprika, garlic salt, and pepper and season to taste.  Stir occasionally until cauliflower is al dente.

Mark Copeland is your neighborhood foodie whose love language is food. He graduated from UNLV with a restaurant management degree and has spent time in an array of food centric businesses specializing in BOH operations. Mark loves to prepare easy and delicious recipes that can be cooked by anyone no matter the expertise level. Follow Mark on IG   @Cope.in.the.kitchen.