Gochujang Chicken with Roasted Vegetables

Feeds: At least 4 

Time to cook: Depends on if you marinate the chicken. For me, total it's 5 hours. 

So this gochujang chicken is my latest obsession and it must be shared with the world. If you don't know, gochujang is a foundational Korean red sauce that is spicy and sweet and full of goodness. You can find it at any Korean market, and I've started seeing more chain grocery stores carry it as well. This recipe is adapted from a New York Times Cooking recipe by Yewande Komolafe. In the original recipe, Yewande uses a mixture of squash and turnips for the veg. My dear husband hates both of those, so I adapted this for our taste. It's so so good. Let me know what you think in the comments! 

Ingredients: 

6 tablespoons gochujang 

4 tablespoons soy sauce 

1.5 tablespoons finely minced ginger

8 cloves of garlic 

6 tablespoons canola oil 

4 bell peppers (I like to use 2 green and then a mix of whatever looks freshest) 

2 medium sized carrots 

2- 2.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs 

10 green onions

5-6 radishes 

3 tablespoons rice vinegar 

2 tablespoons sesame oil 

Directions: 

Make the sauce- For the sauce, combine all the gochujang, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, some salt and pepper to taste (about half a teaspoon of each) and the canola oil. 

Por 2/3s of the sauce mixture into a bowl or a ziploc bag. Add your chicken and let it marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour. You don't have to do this step, but I think it makes the chicken more delicious, and I usually marinate mine for at least 3 hours. Cover the other 1/3 of the sauce for later. You will toss your vegetables in it. 

When your chicken is finished marinating, preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Cover the bottom of a large rimmed baking sheet with foil. You can also use two smaller sheet pans if that is all you have. Trust me on the foil. Set aside. 

Prep your vegetables. Cut the bell peppers into big chunks. I like mine to be about 2 inch squares. If you cut them too small, they will get too mushy in the oven. If your carrots are looking rough, you can peel them before slicing them into rounds. You want them to be about 1/4 inch thick. Set these aside in a big bowl with the peppers. 

Chop the whites off the green onion and put the whites with the bell pepper and carrots. 

Toss your vegetables with the remaining sauce. If it looks like the sauce has separated a little while sitting, just stir it back up and you'll be good to go. 

Pour the chicken, marinade and all, onto the baking sheet. Try to spread it out so that it's laying open and flat. Then, add your vegetables around the chicken. It's ok if it looks a little cramped at first. Remember, your veggies will shrink as they cook. 

Place in the middle rack of the oven and cook for about 35 minutes. You want the chicken to be at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit (highly recommend getting a thermometer!) and you want the veggies to start to be browning on the ends. You can let it go longer to get a better browning. The chicken thighs can handle it! 

While the chicken is cooking, slice your green onion to your liking (I like about 1 inch pieces) and thinly slice your radishes. Add onion and radish to a bowl and then add the sesame oil and green onion. Toss to combine. 

Serve chicken over a bed of rice and garnish with the quick pickle. Enjoy!