Roasted Chicken Thighs with Broccoli and Carrots

After a mini vacation in California eating everything in sight, I wanted a nice, homey meal. I love this recipe for roasted chicken and wanted to change it up with broccoli and carrots. Yum! It's easy, pretty healthy, and a great weeknight meal. Your house will smell amazing when you cook it. 

Cornflake-Crusted Chicken

I've always heard good things about using cornflakes on chicken, so when I was in the grocery and looking for a cheap dinner, I decided to try it. It's really easy and has a great, flavorful crunch. Feel free to change the seasoning.

Serve 3-4
Ingredients:
4 skinless chicken thighs
1 cup crushed corn flakes
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp freshly chopping basil
1 tsp freshly chopped parsley
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
big pinch of cayenne pepper
1 egg
1 tbsp water

Pulled Chicken Tacos

After making these nachos, I wanted to try the same method with chicken. It's cheap, pretty easy, and makes for great tacos (and quesadillas). Chicken thighs are affordable and juicy and pull apart nicely when braised - and unlike short ribs, braising takes 20-30 minutes. I topped them with some sliced avocado, sliced onion, and a dollop of tomatillo salsa.

Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 chicken thighs, bone-in and skin-on
1/2 yellow onion, peeled and cut in half lengthwise
3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
1 dried cascobel chile, stem removed
1 seranno or jalapeno chili, halved
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp coriander
1 tbsp oregano
1 15 oz can tomatoes
1 carrot, minced
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Corn tortillas

Directions:
Take chicken thighs out, pat dry, and salt and pepper. Heat a cast iron skillet to high. Add onion, chiles, and garlic and cook, turning, until lightly charred. Add to a food processor with tomatoes, spices, and carrots and puree until smooth.

Chicken Tikka

Jamie and I had some incredible tandoori chicken in Udaipur and even though we've only been back in the states since Saturday, we're both already craving more Indian food. Chicken Tikka/Tandoori Chicken is a simple weeknight meal and is SO tasty! The chicken is tender and flavorful, and cooks in 25 minutes and it's a nice cheap dinner if you buy chicken legs. If we were serving more people, I would buy a whole chicken and cut it into pieces and remove the skin. One secret is cutting little slashes in the chicken and rubbing the mixture in there. If you don't have tandoori spice, it's kind of a mix of chili powder, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, coriander, ginger etc. Mmm. Jamie said he never wants to eat any other chicken every again, so needless to say, it was a hit! I served it with Green Bean Thoren, courtesy of Nimmy.

White Wine Braised Chicken Thighs

Last week there was a particularly cold and blustery day so I was craving something warming, and on the cheap side. I settled on braised chicken thighs. I spent $8 at the grocery and it fed me and Jamie dinner and lunch the next day. The white wine broth has a great flavor and the turnips get really soft and sweet. Great quick version of a braise (the whole thing takes about 45 minutes).

Ingredients:
5 chicken thighs
1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped
5 gloves of garlic, crushed
3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
2 turnips, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
1 sprig thyme
1 sprig rosemary
A bunch of baby red potatoes (I used 9)
1 cup white wine
1 cup chicken broth
Olive oil and butter
Salt and pepper
Snow peas, cut in half

Red Wine Braised Chicken Thighs

I wanted something somewhat healthy for dinner last night, and something cheap. It was a little cold, so I thought chicken thighs braised in red wine would be perfect and warm and tasty. My grocery run cost $5.06 (for 5 chicken thighs and a big leek) and it fed two of us for dinner and lunch the next day. Letting the red wine and broth cook down makes the sauce so flavorful. I served it over some Israeli couscous just because that's what I had on hand, but this would be great on polenta or mashed potatoes too. The whole process took an hour, and most of that was just braising/cooking down, so it's totally doable for a week night. Of course, feel free to add other veggies if you want it to be more coq au vin style, but this is simple, tasty, and cheap.

Ingredients:
5 chicken thighs (bone-in, skin-on)
1 large leek, rinsed and sliced into 1/4 inch rings
5 cloves garlic, crushed