Rosemary Orange Chicken

November has arrived and I couldn’t be more excited. The leaves are in their full glory, a chill is in the air, and I can’t wait until Thanksgiving. The flavors in this recipe are what you would expect from a turkey dinner except with juicy chicken thighs and about 1/5th the effort. Honestly, this recipe uses just a few ingredients and has many layers of flavor. I serve it with lacinato kale and honey nut squash which both take minutes to prepare and are so good for you. My husband couldn’t stop raving about the kale….and he didn’t even put hot sauce on it (victory).

What you need:

Olive Oil

4 bone in skin on chicken thighs or about 1.5 lbs

salt and pepper

1 tsp fresh chopped rosemary + 1 sprig

1 naval orange, peeled and quartered

1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries

2 small shallots

1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth

2 tbsp butter

3 cups lacinato kale, washed and stems removed

1 small honey nut squash, peeled and chopped

Begin by patting the chicken thighs dry and sprinkling with salt and pepper and your chopped rosemary. Heat your oven to 425. I like to put the squash in the oven before beginning the chicken and it should be fully cooked by the time everything is done (about 30 minutes). I simply cube the squash and put in a baking dish with salt, pepper, and olive oil. It has so much flavor on its own, it really doesn’t need anything else except some butter at the end.

Place a drizzle of olive oil in an oven safe skillet and set over medium-high heat. When the olive oil starts to pop place your chicken thighs skin side down and let them sit for a good 5 minutes. When the skin is brown and crispy flip the thighs over. Add in your shallots, rosemary sprig, orange slices, cranberries, and chicken broth and bring the broth to a boil. Stir in 2 tbsp butter and turn off the heat. Push down on the oranges to release their juices. Spoon the pan sauce over the top of the chicken and place your dish in the oven and set timer for 20 minutes. If you haven’t done so, now is a good time to wash and trim the kale.

When the oven timer has gone off and the chicken is cooked through, remove from the oven and place the chicken on a separate plate to rest. Check the squash which should also be finished at this time. Add 1 tbsp butter and mash the squash, it will be soooo good.

Remove the oranges, and rosemary from the chicken pan. There will be a delicious gravy/sauce in the skillet and this is what you cook the kale in (make sure to leave the cranberries and shallots). Place the dish back on top of the stove at medium heat and cook your kale, stirring frequently for about 5 minutes.

Now serve your chicken with mashed honey nut squash, a side of kale, and plenty of sauce/gravy that should remain in the pan. I promise you, this is a delicious meal.

Cheesy Chicken Stuffed Acorn Squash

This is one of those weeknight fridge raids that turned out amazing. My inspiration was the ton of squash I impulse bought the other day (cause fall y’all) and I had some fresh mozzarella I didn’t want to waste. I started preparing the food and did the sniff test of the mozzarella…smelled a little off so I took a bite, barf. Threw the mozzarella in the trash. Luckily, I had some Paw Patrol string cheese in the fridge which is after all, mozzarella, so I peeled a couple of those and it worked.

This turned out to be so satisfying and rich.

I recommend for a quick, easy, delicious weeknight dinner. I’m thinking I might try it again soon with Italian Sausage instead of shredded chicken.

What you need:

2 acorn squash

olive oil

1/2 cup cream cheese or mascarpone

1 10 oz can diced tomatoes, drained

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

salt, pepper

2 tsp dried Italian seasoning

1 clove of garlic, minced

pinch of red pepper flakes

1/2 a rotisserie chicken shredded

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese for topping

Begin by preheating the oven to 400 degrees. In a mixing bowl combine your cream cheese, tomatoes, parmesan, Italian seasoning, garlic, red pepper flakes, and chicken. Set aside.

Trim the stem and tip off your acorn squash so it can rest flat on the skin after you cut it in half. Cut it in half and scoop out the seed and strings. Drizzle a touch of olive oil to the inside of the squash halves and season with salt and pepper. Flip upside down on a baking dish and bake for about 40 minutes until it softens and is easy to pierce with a fork. Remove from the oven and flip over to fill with the chicken/cheese mixture. Top with mozzarella and put back in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and beginning to brown. Let rest for a few minutes before enjoying.

Pumpkin Corn Muffins

Fall is finally settling in and we have had days and days of rain and 60/70 degree weather. It feels like its finally time to fire up a pot of chili and bake some cornbread to go along with it. I still have some leftover pumpkin puree in the fridge and I thought adding it to the cornbread would not only give it a great flavor but also hold the muffins together a little better since cornbread can tend to be a bit dry and crumbly. Somehow, my instincts were right and this turned out phenomenal. Not overly powerful in flavor and just the right amount of salty/sweet. Everyone loved them and they were delicious crumbled in the chili and served alongside. Also, enough leftover for breakfast the next day.

** I’m working on perfecting my chili recipe so that I can share it (I mean it’s already perfect but I don’t know how to translate it….I always forget to write it down). Whenever I make chili I just eyeball the amount of spice and it always work out. I need to take the time to measure out and taste so that I can make it shareable. My recipe is derived a bit from my Dad’s chili recipe and a bit from testing out various others. I always add a chopped sweet potato, dried ancho Chili powder, cumin, and 1/2 a lager beer. Will work on this for you all!

What you need for the corn muffins:

-2 cups cornbread mix such as Tenda Bake or Jiffy

-1/2 tsp cinnamon

-2 tbsp sugar

-1 cup 2% milk

-3 tbsp melted salted butter

-1/2 cup pumpkin puree

-1 egg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and prepare a muffin tin with either parchment/non stick baking cups or spraying with a non-stick cooking oil (I like the paper method). Now combine all your dry ingredients in a bowl and your wet (butter, milk, pumpkin, egg) in a separate bowl. Then whisk them together and combine thoroughly. Spoon enough mixture to fill your muffin cups 3/4 full and then bake for about 20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.