Lime-glazed chicken with dates and labneh

Name: Lime-glazed chicken with dates and labneh
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Ingredients: ½ cup semi-pearled farro; 10 oz chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces; 2 carrots, thinly sliced on an angle; 1 red onion, small diced; 1 oz Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped; 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped; 1 lime, zested and quartered; ¼ cup labneh or thick Greek yogurt; 2 tsp honey; 1 tbsp red wine vinegar; 1 tsp smoked paprika; ½ tsp ground cumin; ½ tsp ground coriander; ¼ tsp ground cinnamon; ⅛ tsp cayenne; 2 tbsp roasted pistachios, roughly chopped; olive oil, salt, pepper

The dates go in with their soaking water and turn the pan sauce sticky.

At a Glance

Time

35 min

Serves

Story

Soak the chopped dates in hot water for ten minutes and then tip the whole lot into the pan, water included. That liquid is dilute date syrup, and it is what turns a thin pan sauce into something that clings to the chicken. Draining them and adding the fruit alone gets you sweet lumps in a puddle.

Ingredients

½ cup semi-pearled farro
10 oz chicken breastcut into bite-size pieces
2 carrotsthinly sliced on an angle
1 red onionsmall diced
1 oz Medjool datespitted and roughly chopped
2 cloves garlicroughly chopped
1 limezested and quartered
¼ cup labneh or thick Greek yogurt
2 tsp honey
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
⅛ tsp cayenne
2 tbsp roasted pistachiosroughly chopped
olive oilsalt, pepper

Method

Cinnamon in a savory pan sauce is the move here, at a quantity low enough that nobody can name it and high enough that they notice something.

Boil the farro in plenty of salted water, uncovered, 18 to 20 minutes, until tender with a little resistance left. Drain.
Cover the dates with ½ cup of hot water and leave them alone.
Soften the carrots and onion in olive oil over medium high, 6 to 8 minutes. Garlic for a final minute. Tip the lot into the farro with the honey, vinegar and a slug of olive oil. Cover. Wipe the pan.
Pat the chicken dry, season, then toss with the paprika, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and cayenne. Sear in the same pan over medium high, undisturbed, 3 to 4 minutes, until properly browned.
In go the dates and every drop of their liquid. 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until it thickens and the chicken is cooked through. Off the heat, the lime zest and the juice of two wedges.
Season the labneh. Farro into bowls, chicken and all its sauce on top, labneh dropped on cold and barely spread, pistachios over everything.