Roasted Chicken Thighs with Black Bean Garlic Marinade

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Black Bean Garlic Marinade are easy and delicious!

I’m the kind of person who believes in following the spirit of the law, but not necessarily the letter of the law. It’s that free-thinking attitude that helps me reason that even though the South Beach Diet recommends avoiding chicken thighs, it’s the skin and fat on that part of the chicken that the diet is wanting you to avoid. Therefore, if you’ll promise to remove the skin and carefully trim away visible fat, these Roasted Chicken Thighs with Black Bean Garlic Marinade should be a perfectly good South Beach Diet food. I love to buy chicken thighs when they’re on special, and for this recipe I used a package of twelve chicken thighs that cost less than $4.00.

When I’m marinating chicken, I also like to trim the pieces so they’re nicely shaped and cut little slits lengthwise so the marinade can penetrate. I did that to get the nice looking pieces of chicken you see in these photos. The Asian marinade here was inspired by multi-talented Stefania Pomponi Butler who writes on Family Food about the delicious meals she cooks for her kids. When she posted Chicken Drumsticks Two Ways, I loved the idea of Black Bean Garlic Sauce on chicken, and I had some in the fridge. (Love it when that happens!) Of course, you know how I am; I had to add a few more things. But the Black Bean Garlic Sauce is what lights up these chicken thighs, so thanks to Stefania for the idea.

Remove skin and all the visible fat from chicken thighs, then marinate trimmed chicken thighs for 6-8 hours in the refrigerator. You could trim them the night before, pour the marinade in when you go to work, and let them marinate all day if you wanted.

Arrange thighs on the roasting pan to cook, trying to keep as much of the sauce clinging to the chicken as you can. The thighs are roasted at 325 F for about 50 minutes, and should be brushed with sauce a few times while they’re cooking.

Use a sharp knife to remove skin and trim all visible fat from chicken thighs. I also cut off any hanging pieces to make the thighs nicely shaped and cut small slits lengthwise so the marinade will penetrate the meat. Mix marinade ingredients, then put chicken pieces in single layer inside large Ziploc bag, pour marinade in and let marinate for 6 hours or more in the refrigerator.

When ready to cook, remove chicken from refrigerator and let it come to room temperature while oven preheats to 325 F. Arrange chicken on roasting pan, keeping as much marinade clinging to the chicken as you can. Roast about 50 minutes, turning several times and brushing with sauce/marinade that collects at the bottom of the pan. Chicken is done when you can cut into a piece and juice runs clear, and when it’s firm and lightly browned. Serve hot.

Truly, I don’t need to nag again about how you must trim the fat and remove the skin to make this South Beach Diet friendly do I? I didn’t think so. In that case, this recipe would work for phase 2 or 3 of the South Beach Diet. This would taste great with with Spicy Cucumber Salad with Thai Basil and Sesame Seeds and Brown and Wild Rice with Pine Nuts and Thyme.