Lemon Drumsticks: Let the marinade do all the work for you

Taking only a minute or two to assemble, a good marinade will hit all the flavor hot spots: sweet and spicy, earthy but bright.

Marinades can be your best friend in the kitchen, or your epicurean undoing. Throwing some meat in a zip-top bag is an ideal way to get your food to work for you, while you’re out working for the weekend. Taking only a minute or two to assemble, a good marinade will hit all the flavor hot spots: sweet and spicy, earthy but bright. 

The marinade for these drumsticks is all those things and more. The key here is marinating the chicken legs in a myriad of pantry staples and a healthy amount of lemon zest.

The lemon juice, however is reserved for dressing the hot-out-of-the-oven roasted legs with a bright splash of fresh lemon juice. Avoid marinating the chicken (or anything, for that matter!) in lemon juice, which can make the  skin mealy and mushy.

This easy weeknight meal is completed with a chopped Greek Salad that’s loaded with fresh mint and tangy feta cheese. Since your refrigerator is busy doing the meal prep for you all day, this meal can hit your dinner table in well under an hour. 

Drumsticks with Chopped Greek Salad

For the chicken:

10 chicken legs (about 3 1/2 pounds)

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

2 lemons

nonstick cooking spray

For the salad:

2 cups chopped cucumbers

2 cups halved grape tomatoes

1 15.5-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained

1/2 cup roughly chopped, pitted kalamata olives 

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/3 cup finely chopped mint

2 tablespoon fruity olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1. Place a large zip-top bag in a bowl.  Add the olive oil, honey, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, oregano, nutmeg, garlic powder, and onion powder to the bag. Use a rasp grater to zest both lemons and add the lemon zest to the bag, as well.  Close the bag and use your hands to smush the ingredients around, mixing the marinade. Reserve the lemons. 

2. Add the chicken to the bag, and push out as much air as possible before closing the bag.  Keep the bag in the bowl, and place the bowl in the fridge for at least two hours, or overnight. 

3. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. 

4. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Remove the chicken from the bag and place on the pan. 

5. Place the pan in the upper third of your oven and cook for twenty minutes. Lower the heat to 300 degrees and continue to cook until an instant read thermometer reaches about 165 degrees. This should take another twenty minutes, or so. When you take the pan out of the oven, squeeze the juice of one lemon over the hot chicken. 

6. Meanwhile, place all the ingredients for the chopped salad in a large mixing bowl.  Add the juice of one lemon, reserved after zesting. 

7. Serve the chicken hot, or at room temperature, with a scoop of salad.

This recipe will yield five servings.