Onions are one of the most magical ingredients that I’m appreciating even more now my Irishman is on a low FODMAP plan which excludes alliums.
In fact most of the time when someone walks into the kitchen and says ‘that smells amazing’, it’s just onions cooking.
They’re also a brilliant source of inulin, a type of fibre called a ‘pre-biotic’ which is great for feeding your gut bacteria (unless you have IBS of course!).
There are 7 ingredients listed here but I don’t count olive oil in my 6-ingredient limit.
enough for 2
takes 30 minutes
4 medium onions
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
4 chicken thigh fillets
1 cup hummus, to serve
1 bag salad, baby kale or baby spinach leaves
1. Preheat your oven to 250C (480F). Peel onion and chop in half lengthwise. Then slice each half finely into 1/2 moon shapes. Place onion in an oven proof casserole or cast iron pot. Drizzle with a little oil and cook covered for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, combine olive oil, cumin, coriander and a little salt in a small bowl. Toss in chicken thighs to coat in the spicy oil.
3. After the onions have been cooking for 10 minutes, add chicken and oil to the pot and return to the oven covered for another 10 minutes.
4. Remove lid and cook for another 5 minutes or until chicken is well browned and cooked through (no longer pink when you cut into it).
5. To serve, divide hummus between two plates. Top with spiced chicken and onions and serve salad leaves on the side.
Variations & Substitutions
Short on time / no oven – cook onions in a large frying pan until soft and golden. Remove from the pan and keep warm while you pan fry the spiced chicken on a medium high heat until well browned and cooked through (about 4-5 minutes on each side).
5-ingredients / über simple – skip the spices or replace with 1-2 teaspoons of a spice blend like ras el hanout, baharat or curry powder.
vegetarian – replace chicken with cooked chickpeas or cauliflower.
more substantial (carb lovers) – warm pita bread, steamed brown rice or quinoa or roast sweet potato.
low carb – use cauliflower ‘hummus’ or broccoli hummus. Or replace with yoghurt tahini sauce (equal parts greek yogurt and tahini).
more substantial (low carb) – add roast nuts like hazelnuts, almonds or pine nuts. Or add some low carb veg like cauliflower or broccoli or zucchini to cook with the chicken.
Low FODMAP – replace onions with 2 sliced red capsicum (bell peppers). Make a low FODMAP hummus by replacing the garlic in this hummus with 1 teaspoon ground cumin. You may want to reduce the serving size of the hummus.
Waste Avoidance Strategy
onion – will keep in the pantry for months. Best if in a dark corner in a brown paper bag.
olive oil / ground coriander / ground cumin – keep them in the pantry.
chicken thigh fillets – freeze them.
hummus – will keep in the fridge for a few weeks. Can be frozen.
salad, baby kale or baby spinach leaves – are highly perishable. My first path would be to use them for another meal (salad for breakfast!) but if that isn’t possible you can pop them in the freezer. They will wilt down but can then be used anywhere you’d use wilted greens. At least this way they won’t go slimy.
Prepare Ahead
You can but I prefer not to reheat chicken! If you do want to, just cook as per the recipe but keep the hummus and salad separately. Leftovers will keep in the fridge for 1 week or can be frozen. To serve, warm chicken and onions in a pan with a little oil.
