Ingredients:
3 lbs chicken thighs
2 tablespoons lemon pepper seasoning
1/2 super fine flour (like Wondra)
2 zucchini (I used goldenrod zucchini), cut into 1/2-inch thick half circles
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
3 portobello mushroom caps, large dice
1 bunch green chard, chopped
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 lb baby potatoes (I used a mix of white, red and blue potatoes), halved
salt
freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400.
Thoroughly coat the chicken with lemon pepper and flour. Place skin-side down in a hot, oven safe, dry skillet. Cook for 10-20 minutes or until well browned. Remove to a paper-towel lined platter. Drain off fat, leaving 1-2 tablespoons behind. Add the onions, zucchini, mushrooms, chard, and garlic and saute until the onion is softened and translucent. Season with salt and pepper. Place the chicken, skin-side up, on top of the vegetables. Bake for 40 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked. Serve immediately.
Note: If you have more vegetables than room in your pan, transfer them to an appropriately sized baking dish and then top with chicken and bake.
My thoughts:
Last weekend we went to one of my favorite food festivals, the Kennett Square Mushroom Festival. Kennett Square is known as the mushroom capital of the world and they put on quite a festival! Not only can you buy mushrooms (we bought a five lb case of HUGE portobellos!) but they have all sorts of mushroom food on offer. This year we shared a candy cap mushroom cupcake, a mushroom tamale (the best!), a Mediterranean burrito with mushrooms and pork, fried mushrooms and mushroom-free Dole Whip. In previous years we’ve had mushroom ice pops! Anyway, we brought home a ton of mushrooms so now it is my job to use them up!
This is my second favorite way to cook chicken thighs. I love Maryland Fried Chicken the best but we can’t always eat fried chicken! This method gives you crispy skin thanks to the browning step but requires zero extra fat. Then you layer it on a bed of vegetables. The whole thing bakes in about 40 minutes and you are left with both perfectly cooked chicken and a side dish all in one pan.
