Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk or plain yogurt
- 1 cup packed basil leaves
- 1/4 cup packed chives
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 anchovy fillets (optional)
- 1 scallion, white and green parts
- Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime
- 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 (4- to 5-pound) chicken, halved through the breast and back bones, patted dry with paper towels
- 1 to 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Instructions
- In a blender, purée buttermilk, basil, chives, garlic, anchovies (if using), scallion, lime zest and juice, salt and pepper until smooth.
- Put chicken halves in a bowl or large heavy-duty resealable plastic bag and cover with three-quarters of the Green Goddess marinade. (Save the rest to serve as a sauce.) Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or up to overnight.
- Heat oven to 500 degrees. Remove chicken from the marinade, shaking off as much liquid as possible, and lay the halves on a rimmed baking sheet. (Discard the used marinade.) Pat chicken tops dry with paper towels and drizzle with oil. Roast until cooked through, about 30 to 45 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving, with some of the reserved sauce if you like.
Full Article
Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards.
Green Goddess dressing — a creamy, piquant blend of herbs, garlic and anchovies — is good to eat on salad. And it’s wonderful as a dipping sauce for vegetables. But its best use may be as a marinade for roast chicken. The mild chicken absorbs all the zippy flavors of the dressing, to emerge from the oven fragrant and golden, flecked with green. To intensify the herbal flavor, some of the green goddess mixture is set aside to use as a sauce. You could even pour a little on a salad or some vegetables on the side, and enjoy the best of all the Green Goddess variations in one savory bite.