This recipe from Martha Stewart Living is perfect for entertaining. You can use a whole chicken, cut up, or chicken pieces. Roast the chicken with lemon and orange juice, wine, dates and thyme, adding olives partway through. Once the chicken is done, boil the sauce to reduce it and serve over the chicken.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Use fresh fruit and their juices. Dates may contain sulfites, so read the label carefully. I used a white wine from Frogpond Farm with no sulfites added and President’s Choice garlic-stuffed green olives.

Squeeze juice over chicken and nestle citrus wedges into chicken

The chicken takes about 40 minutes to cook

Roasted chicken with dates, citrus and olives

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken (about 5 pounds/2.25 kg), cut into 10 pieces

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

3 tablespoons (45 ml) extra-virgin olive oil

1 lemon, quartered

1 orange, quartered, plus ½ cup (125 ml) fresh juice (from 2 to 3 oranges)

¼ cup (60 ml) dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc

12 large soft dates, such as medjool or khadrawi, halved and pitted

3 sprigs thyme

1 cup (250 ml) large green olives

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (232 degrees C). In a large roasting pan, season chicken with salt and pepper; drizzle with oil. Squeeze lemon and orange over chicken, then add fruit to pan. Add wine, orange juice, half of dates, and thyme. Roast 25 minutes.

Remove pan from oven; rotate chicken pieces if browning unevenly. Add olives and remaining dates. Roast until a thermometer inserted in chicken breast (avoiding bone) registers 160 degrees F (71 degrees C), about 15 minutes more. Transfer chicken and citrus to a platter.

Place roasting pan over high heat, mashing some of dates with the back of a wooden spoon, until sauce is reduced and thickened, about 3 minutes. Pour over chicken; serve. Serves 6.

From Martha Stewart Living