Mediterranean Chicken with Roasted Eggplant Hummus, Feta, and Brown Rice, from Gael

Mediterranean Chicken with Roasted Eggplant Hummus, Feta, and Brown Rice, from Gael

Made 6-12-19, from Plated meal kit. Pretty good! The hummus and eggplant were much better than I expected!

Plated comments: "If you love both hummus and baba ganoush, Chef Shanna's roasted eggplant hummus will have you hooked. The eggplant gets tender and slightly crispy in the oven; then, it's stirred into garlicky hummus with a squeeze of lemon for brightness. It goes so well with slices of pan-roasted chicken seasoned with tangy, lemony sumac. It's all served over a warm salad of brown rice and feta, then garnished with fresh mint and more sumac for a pop of color."

1 eggplant
¼ pint grape tomatoes
⅛ ounce mint
1 lemon
1 clove garlic
½ cup brown rice
2 boneless skin-on chicken breasts
2 teaspoons ground sumac
1 container hummus
2 ounces crumbled feta cheese

1. Prepare ingredients
Preheat oven to 450ºF. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil over high heat. Rinse all produce. Quarter eggplant lengthwise and cut crosswise into ¼- inch pieces, discarding ends. Halve grape tomatoes. Roughly chop mint leaves, discarding stems. Halve lemon. Using the flat side of a knife, gently crush garlic clove.

2. Cook brown rice
Season boiling water generously with salt. Stir in brown rice and cook until tender, 22–25 minutes (see recipe tip). Drain and return to pot, off heat, then cover to keep warm until ready to serve.

3. Roast eggplant
While rice cooks, line a baking sheet with foil. Add eggplant and crushed garlic and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil, ¼ teaspoon salt, and pepper as desired. Arrange in a single layer and roast, stirring halfway through, until very tender, 10–12 minutes total.

4. Cook chicken
While eggplant roasts, pat chicken very dry with paper towel (see recipe tip); season all over with half of sumac, ½ teaspoon salt, and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a medium pan over medium-high heat. When oil is shimmering, add chicken skin-side down and sear until skin is golden and easily lifts from pan, 6 minutes. Flip and sear until cooked through and no longer pink, about 6 minutes more. Transfer chicken to cutting board; set aside to rest.

5. Finish hummus and rice
While chicken cooks, once garlic is roasted, transfer garlic to cutting board to cool slightly, then mince. In a medium bowl, stir together hummus, roasted eggplant, garlic, juice of ½ lemon, and ½ tablespoon olive oil to combine. To pot with brown rice, still off heat, stir in feta, tomatoes, juice of remaining lemon, 1 tablespoon olive oil, ¼ teaspoon salt, and pepper to combine.

6. Plate chicken
Cut rested chicken into ¼-inch slices. Divide brown rice, feta, and tomatoes between serving plates. Top with sliced Mediterranean chicken and dollop over roasted eggplant hummus. Garnish with mint and remaining sumac. Dig in!