Lemon Basil Chicken

Set the Table's second anniversary is coming. Two years. The program that started with six girls and scrambled eggs now has ten girls (two new this summer — Kayla, Jasmine's best friend, and a girl named Faith who is fourteen and was referred by her school counselor, which means someone in another school told a kid about my program and I am both proud and overwhelmed by that). Ten girls in the church kitchen every Saturday, learning to cook, learning to sit, learning that they matter.

Destiny is sixteen now. She's been with me since the beginning. She teaches classes, writes recipes in her notebook, and has started talking about culinary school. CULINARY SCHOOL. The girl who walked into the church kitchen at fifteen and asked "What's the difference between a cooking class and a life class?" is now thinking about making food her career. I haven't told her what this means to me. I haven't told her because the words are too big and too full and they would come out as tears and Destiny doesn't need my tears — she needs my belief. And I believe in her. Completely. Without reservation. The way Mama believed in me when I stood on the step stool and reached for the spoon.

Terrell took the kids for a weekend. A whole weekend. Friday to Sunday. He has an apartment in Buckhead (of course) and he took them to the aquarium and to dinner and to a Hawks game. Marcus came home quiet and complicated. Jasmine came home talking about the aquarium, which tells me she had a good time with the fish if not necessarily with her father. I asked Marcus how it was. He said, "Fine." I said, "Fine good or fine bad?" He said, "Fine complicated." My thirteen-year-old son uses the word "complicated" about his father and he is exactly right and I hate that he has to be.

Made a Sunday dinner for when they got home: roast chicken, mashed potatoes, cornbread, green beans. Comfort. Familiarity. The table that doesn't change, the food that doesn't disappoint, the mother who is always here. Marcus ate two plates. Jasmine ate one. They both went to bed early. Some weekends with your father leave you full in the stomach and empty in the heart, and the only cure is your mother's kitchen and your own bed. I know this. I cook for this. The table holds.

That Sunday dinner I made when Marcus and Jasmine got home — the one that needed to say you are safe, you are home, nothing here has changed — started with chicken. It always starts with chicken. This lemon basil version is the one I reach for when the food needs to do more than fill plates; the brightness of the lemon lifts the whole kitchen, the basil smells like something growing instead of something ending, and the simplicity of it means I can be present at the stove instead of buried in a recipe. Some nights the cooking is the message, and this is the recipe I trust to send it.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 50 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 lbs total)
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
Zest and juice of 1 large lemon
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped, plus more for garnish
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
Lemon slices, for serving

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Heat oven to 400°F. Pat chicken thighs completely dry with paper towels — this is the step that gets you crispy skin, so don’t skip it.
Make the marinade. In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, chopped basil, salt, pepper, onion powder, and red pepper flakes if using. Rub the mixture all over the chicken, getting under the skin where you can.
Sear the chicken. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in an oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Place chicken skin-side down and sear without moving it for 4–5 minutes, until the skin is deep golden brown. Flip and sear the other side for 2 minutes.
Add broth and roast. Pour the chicken broth around (not over) the chicken. Transfer the skillet to the preheated oven and roast for 25–30 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 165°F and the skin is crispy and lacquered.
Rest and serve. Let the chicken rest in the pan for 5 minutes before serving. Spoon the pan juices over the top, scatter fresh basil leaves over everything, and lay lemon slices alongside. Serve with mashed potatoes or rice to catch all that pan sauce.

Nutrition (per serving)

Lemon Basil Chicken — The Sunday Table That Always Holds