Preparation The legs, or brown meat, of a chicken have more flavour than the breast and take longer to cook. They are sold as whole legs, drumsticks (the lower half of the leg) or thighs.

Season chicken legs with salt and pepper on both sides and nestle into a 1½-qt. baking dish. Arrange shallots, garlic, and 6 thyme sprigs around chicken and pour oil over.

A graphic shared on the site FlowingData, run by statistician Nathan Yau, takes a close look at how the American diet has changed between 1970 and 2013. Chicken quickly grew in popularity.