Pomegranate Lacquered Chicken over Sweet Potato Mash with string bean edamame salad

The husband loves chicken, there's nothing I can do about it. No matter what I try, Duck, Lamb, Veal, nada  all my coaxing and urging for him to come to the other team  his loyalty will always be to Mr. Chicken. Needless to say I try every possible way to change it up. As every afternoon goes when I start to put a dish together I go to the pantry and fridge for some inspiration and there on the fridge shelf I spotted it, yup my star of the show, the lead character; Pomegranate seeds.

Now we all know its labor intensive to get those ruby little jewels out of its shell so nothing goes to waste after you put in the work ( I cut the pomegranate in half place in a large glass bowl and tap the back of it with a wooden spoon, and wala they all leave their little nest unblemished and unbruised). So this is how the story begins....In honor of tu b'shvat: Pomegranate lacquered chicken over smashed sweet potatoes with string beans and edamame.
Wait, I know what your thinking, But YES! you CAN do this, take a look closer its your standard chicken potato dinner dressed up for the occasion. Take the time and effort and wow! its worth it. Not only is the dish delicious as a whole but each component is part of the basic recipes I always lean on when I want to put a delicious meal on the table and don't have all day to prepare. Let's begin shall we?

Pomegranate Lacquered Chicken over Sweet Potato Mash with String Beans Edamame salad

Pomegranate Lacquered Chicken
1 whole chicken, quartered
1 large spanish onion, sliced
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/8 tsp. kosher salt
1/8 tsp. cracked black pepper
2 tbsp. garlic, minced
1 pinch dried thyme

Glaze
2 cups pomegranate juice
1 cup orange juice
1 lemon, zest and juice
2 tbsp. honey
3 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cracked black pepper
1 tsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. corn starch

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees
Chicken: Combine, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and thyme set aside, Place chicken over sliced onion in roasting pan. Lift skin and rub olive oil mixture under and on top of each chicken. Bake 1 and 1/2 hours covered.  Brush on with basting brush some reserved glaze on chicken for an additional half hour uncovered. Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes before serving baste chicken again right before serving.

Glaze: Combine, pom juice, Orange juice, lemon,honey, garlic, salt and pepper in sauce pan. Bring to a rapid boil for 15 minutes, stir along the way to scrape any bits of garlic or lemon that may get stick to the bottom of the pan let the glaze reduce to half. remove from heat add corn starch, whisk thoroughly . return to heat bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat add in red wine vinegar stir and set aside.

Sweet Potato Mash
2 lbs. sweet potato
2 tbsp. margarine, softened
2 tbsp. brown sugar
dash of paprika
salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Sweet Potato Mash: Peel and cut sweet potatoes into 2-inch chunks. Place in large saucepan. Add cold water to cover 1 inch over sweet potatoes. Bring to boil; cover. Cook on medium-low heat 20 to 30 minutes or until tender. Drain. Combine remaining ingredients and mash according to taste (I like to leave it a bit chunky).

Saute String Beans
1lb. string beans, washed and trimmed
1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
salt and cracked pepper to taste

String Beans: Place olive oil in skillet over medium high heat, toss in string beans and saute for 8 minutes or until tender crisp. sprinkle in salt and black pepper to taste.

Edamame
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add enough salt so the water tastes as salty as sea water. Add in-shell edamame and cook until beans are tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and remove soy beans from pod or can be eaten whole sprinkled with some salt or crushed red pepper flakes.

Plating: Scoop of sweet potato mash place chicken over top , take some tongs and place string beans against chicken, drizzle some reserved pomegranate glaze, garnish with edamame and pomegranate seeds