Chicken is roasted with browned butter and figs then topped with some sweet caramelized onions and tangy gorgonzola cheese.
Ingredients
1 t olive oil
6 cloves roasted garlic
2 T butter
1 to 1 1/2 C water
6-8 chicken breasts
8-12 figs, sliced in 4
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
2 onions, sliced
1 T honey
1/4 C (or more) gorgonzola cheese
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 375F.
Drizzle garlic with olive oil and wrap in foil. Roast for 45-60 minutes. Remove from oven. When cool enough to handle, squeeze pulp from 6 cloves garlic and mash with a fork. Set aside.
Brown butter in a small skillet (watch carefully so it doesn’t burn).
Grease a large ovenproof dish. Add water. Add chicken. Top with figs, salt, pepper, and then drizzle browned butter over.
Bake uncovered for 45-60 minutes, or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 170F.
Add onions and honey to a dry skillet. Cook over low heat for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove from oven and top with mashed roasted garlic, caramelized onions, and dot with gorgonzola.
I love soup! I could probably eat soup every day. Summer weather is no excuse for no soup, in our home. We just can’t get enough.
Thankfully, it’s finally feeling like fall (jump, cheer, squeak of joy). So we will eat soup, will eat soup, will eat SOUP!
We are kinda crazy about anything taco. We love Tacos tacos, we adore Taco Salad, and we could eat endless bowls of Taco Soup.
This soup is all kinds of hearty. It’s full of veggies (corn, tomatoes, zucchini, radishes, and onions), it has a bit of a kick, but not so much that it will make you sweat (but if you want it to, add another serrano or two, and keep the ribs and seeds), and you get to top it with cheese, corn chips, yogurt, salsa, and cilantro.
We liked it so much that I made it for one of my ifood.tv episodes and will probably make it again and again this fall and winter. We also thought it was good enough to bring to some friends who just had the most adorable baby girl. They agreed (even one of them who claims to dislike vegetables liked it)…
Here’s to a cold fall night, hot Taco Soup, and lots of time with the ones you love.
1 medium (about 1 1/2 C) zucchini (or other summer squash), chopped
3 small radishes, chopped
1 serrano chili pepper, ribs and seeds removed, diced
to taste, salt
to taste, pepper
1 t chili powder
1/4 t cumin
pinch all spice
pinch ginger
1 C corn (frozen or fresh)
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 tomatoes (about 1 1/2 C), chopped
1 T red wine vinegar
2 T lemon juice, divided
6-7 C stock (vegetable, chicken, or beef), or water
salsa, for topping
corn chips, for topping
Greek yogurt (or sour cream), for topping
cheddar cheese, grated, for topping
fresh cilantro, chopped, for topping
Instructions
Place beef in a soup pot. Cook over medium heat until it's partially cooked. Add olive oil and next 10 ingredients (thru ginger). Cook over medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes, or until veggies are tender, stirring occasionally.
Add corn and garlic, cook 1 minute.
Add tomato paste, tomatoes, vinegar, and 1 T lemon juice; cook 1-2 minutes.
Add stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes, or until veggies are tender.
Add remaining lemon juice. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Serve topped with cheese, yogurt, salsa, chips, and cilantro.
It’s 10am as I type this, and I can not wait for dinner… It may be a long day. 😉
Here’s what inspired this dish: yumminess and ease. It’s gonna look like you slaved away. Seriously. But, the reality is that this meal takes minimal preparation, and most of the cooking time is inactive. Winner winner chicken dinner. Oh and then bonus, it taste amazing. How can it not with all those amazing herbs, roasted tomatoes and peppers, and juicy chicken thighs.
Sigh. Have I mentioned that I’m really hungry?
I am going to serve this with a green salad, and some hearty bread to use to soak up the sauce and wipe the plate clean.
And when I’m done eating, I may just come back here and stare at the photos and imagine that I could eat this at every meal… Ok, maybe that’s exaggerating a little bit. I’ll leave breakfast alone.
Although, with any leftovers, you could make some hot grits to go along with slices of cold chicken, and serve it with a fruit salad. If you’d rather leave chicken for lunch and dinner (totally cool), you might enjoy a chicken salad sandwich. Toss chopped chicken with some mayo, the tomatoes, and peppers, and a bit of the pan drippings, maybe a bit of dijon mustard.
Or maybe there won’t be any leftovers. I could see that happening.
Happy Eating!
Herbed Roasted Chicken Thighs with Cherry Tomatoes
Quick and easy and so delicious. Chicken is browned on the stove in savory infused butter and olive oil, then roasted with veggies. Winner.
Ingredients
2 T olive oil, divided
1 T unsalted butter
1 sprig fresh savory
pinch salt
pinch pepper
2-3 chicken thighs, bone-in
1 C (heaping) cherry tomatoes (about 24-26)
2 sweet peppers, sliced (bell peppers would work too, use 1-2)
1/4 t dried thyme
1 T fresh savory, chopped
1/4 t dried oregano
1/4 t dried parsley
1/4 t dried rosemary
to taste, salt
to taste, pepper
1/4 C red wine vinegar
1/4 C balsamic vinegar
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 425F.
Heat ovenproof skillet over medium heat. When hot, add butter and 1 T olive oil. When hot, add sprig of savory and swirl around (infusing the butter and oil) for 2 minutes. Discard savory.
Add a tiny bit of salt and pepper to oil. Add chicken, skin side down, and sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper. Cook for 3-5 minutes, flip, and cook 3-5 minutes more.
Remove from heat. Add tomatoes and peppers. Drizzle with remaining olive oil and sprinkle with herbs, salt, and pepper. Pour vinegars into the bottom of the pan. Cook for 20-25 minutes, or until a meat thermometer registers 180F.
Serve with tomatoes and peppers, topped with pan drippings and a slice of crusty bread for mopping up the sauce.
Picture this: You’ve had a long day. You’re tired, kinda grumpy, and gosh you’re hungry. Maybe you’re cooking for 1, maybe it’s for 7… and you don’t have dinner planned. Does this ever happen to anyone else? No? Just me? That’s ok. Because I almost always have pasta on hand.
Add to it a bit of tomato sauce, some fresh veggies, and you’ve got dinner. If you have ground beef, that’s a bonus. If not, don’t worry. I think you’ll be just fine.
Maybe you haven’t made it to the store yet this week. You’ve got some cheese and veggies, but no tomato sauce in the pantry. I’ve got you covered. Sauté some veggies (the ones from this recipe if you have them, minus the tomatoes). Once they’re cooked, remove them from the pan. Then make a béchamel sauce (fancy sounding way to say a white sauce): add 2 T olive oil to a pan, heat it until it shimmers, then add 2 T all purpose flour and whisk. Cook for about 30-60 seconds, then slowly add some milk (1 to 2 C should do), whisking and letting it thicken between additions. Let it heat up, but don’t boil (the sauce may break) – just heat until steam rises. Remove from the heat and whisk in 1/2 to 1 C cheese, a little at a time. (You could add the fresh tomatoes now. Just let them warm through.) Add your sautéed veggies, some salt, pepper, and Italian seasonings.
Or, you could do both… I call it Spaghetteroni and Cheese. It’s any sort of pasta with tomato sauce that gets topped with cheese sauce. In our home, we think it’s crazy good.
I don’t think you can really go wrong with any of these options. And I’m not sure if I can choose a favorite. But, if I’m going with easiest, this Rotini Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce is super simple and doesn’t take too long to go from starving to eating.
Dinner is saved.
Leftovers can be frozen, so don’t be shy about making a double or even triple batch. Store a few single servings in freezer-safe containers – they’ll be great for lunches if you’re tired of PB&J (I mean, who doesn’t love PB&J?! I do, but it can get old…). I don’t know that I’d recommend freezing the pasta, but you could make enough for dinner and for everyone to take some for lunch the next day. The sauce would also be delicious over top of some Roasted Summer Squash (toss thinly sliced squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper, then bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes, or until slightly crispy), mixed in with a roasted spaghetti squash, as Stuffed Tomatoes (heat sauce, hollow out large tomatoes, fill with sauce, serve topped with parmesan cheese), or mixed with rice to stuff a Zoo Boat (Stuffed Summer Squash)… the possibilities are endless!
What to do with a winter squash… when it’s still summer?! Make it into a soup that has summery flavors.
It’s kinda the best of both worlds. I get to eat soup when it’s 95 degrees F out, but I also get to use the wintery veggies that we’ve started getting in our weekly box of produce.
This one is a bit like a soupy version of the Spaghetti Squash Rock that I made on the show last year. The squash is roasted, stock is made, veggies are sautéed. Then it all comes together pretty quickly.
I like to top this soup with a good amount of parmesan cheese. And some hearty, crusty bread, with some butter on it goes really well (perfect for dipping and then cleaning out the bowl).
Cook squash: Halve, remove seeds, brush with olive oil, and bake cut side down at 350F for 45-60 minutes (or until flesh pierces easily with a fork). Scrape flesh from skin and set aside.
Heat a soup pot, add oil. When oil is hot, add peppers, onion, salt, and pepper. Cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and honey and cook for about 1 minute.
Add tomato sauce, squash, balsamic vinegar, and stock. Cover and bring to a boil. Uncover and reduce to a simmer and cook for 20-30 minutes.
Remove from heat and add butter. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
