Oh. My. Word. I just have to write a quick blog post to share a recipe. I made an amazing chicken dish last night that the family declared was a winner winner, chicken dinner! There is so much to blog about our trip to the Pacific Northwest, and it is taking longer than I would like to edit. So in the meantime…. you need this recipe in your life!
I mentioned in my very first post that I try new recipes all of the time. One of my main resources is The New York Times. I’m telling you, I cook whatever Sam Sifton, Melissa Clark, and friends tell me to cook! We subscribe to the NY Times, and I am a faithful follower of NYT Cooking with its database of THOUSANDS of fabulous recipes. The emails with ideas for weeknight dinners and weekly planning are so great. However, there is hope for those of you who don’t want to spend the extra cash (which, by the way, is only $4.26 per month for a digital subscription). You can get some free recipes on their Instagram.
But back to last night’s yumminess. We are only two full days into the school year, and sadly, I have not done any meal planning or really much grocery shopping. (I think we are all having a hard time transitioning out of summer mode!) I did have some fresh chicken thighs in the fridge, though, and figured I could pull something together. Bone-in, skin-on thighs are my go-to because they are full of flavor and easy to cook.
After a quick perusal of recipes I have saved on NYT Cooking, I decided upon “Skillet Chicken with White Beans and Caramelized Lemon.” Luckily I had most of the ingredients on hand. Less than forty-five minutes later, we had an incredible meal. Everyone agreed this recipe is a keeper! Unfortunately, I got a very late start and my family was not willing to wait for me to take a picture of the final product. But it looked pretty much like the above picture from the NYT website. (*photo credit to Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott for The New York Times.)
So here’s the deal. I am not trying to be a blogger that develops recipes and shares them with the world. Certainly, I will never be another Pioneer Woman, and I’m not the Smitten Kitchen. (Love them both!) I find recipes that far more talented cooks have written, and I try to make them myself. And I will share some of those with you.
Here is the link to the recipe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019382-skillet-chicken-with-white-beans-and-caramelized-lemon. You can only access it with the aforementioned subscription, but from what I understand from the blogging world, I can list the ingredients and give you an overview….
Skillet Chicken with White Beans and Caramelized Lemon
- 1 lemon, thinly sliced, seeds removed
- 1 shallot, cut into wedges
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 1/2 pounds bone-in-skin-on chicken thighs or breasts (about 4-6) (My package had eight thighs in it.)
- 1 tablespoon canola oil (I used extra virgin olive oil)
- 1 (15-ounce) can small white beans (such as Great Northern, navy or cannellini) or chickpeas, drained and rinsed (I used TWO cans of cannellini beans)
- 1 bunch kale, ribs removed, leaves torn into large pieces
First of all, when choosing chicken with the skin, if possible, get the air-chilled chicken at the grocery store. This will give you crispier skin, which of course is the best part! I also used two cans of beans, and if I had it to do over, I also would have doubled the lemon and shallot.
Here is the gist: Heat your oven to 425 degrees. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat and, after seasoning, add the thighs, skin-side down. Leave them there until they are a lovely golden brown, which for me was about 10 minutes. Flip and cook for another 8-10 minutes. Transfer the thighs to a plate and add the lemon and shallot to all the fat and juices left behind. Cook for a few minutes until the lemon starts to caramelize. Then add the beans to the skillet and season to taste. Let them soak up all that golden chicken goodness and start to brown. At this point, the recipe adds the kale in just long enough to wilt. I did not have any kale on hand, so I skipped that step. Return the chicken to the skillet and then place in oven 5-10 minutes until cooked completely through. Since I didn’t have the kale, I served ours on top of a bed of arugula with a squeeze of lemon juice.
Again, if you like to cook and try new recipes, you really should subscribe to NY Times Cooking. You, too, will be able to say “winner winner, chicken dinner!” Now, back to working on my post about our trip. Hopefully, it will be ready to share in a few days!
