Tasty Thighs

While at our friends' wedding last weekend, we thought of the first time the groom visited us in San Francisco, a few years back.

After an idyllic weekend surfing in Bolinas, hiking in Marin, and camping under the redwoods near Point Reyes, we cruised back to the city. Nat and I busily discussed our food options for the upcoming week - what ingredients to buy, which recipes to try, which farmers' market to shop - because, well, that's our jam.

As we neared home, Eric piped up from the backseat, "I've never thought about food as much as with you this weekend."

What he meant was:

"Will you two shut up about food for a minute so I can hear myself think!?"

Enter, the following recipe. Had we known about it, we would have made it that night. It doesn't take much planning, uses simple ingredients, and pleases a crowd.

While planning and organizing food is important, it's nice to have a balance with everyday life. Having a few "go-to" recipes means we don't have to make our friends and family carsick with every detail.

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Broccoli and Sweet Potatoes

We used to make this all the time, just without the broccoli and sweet potatoes.  After a few comments from readers about wanting "one-pot" meals, we toyed with adding other vegetables. It's also adaptable to other ingredients, like leeks, spring onion, green garlic, as well as other herbs.

Serves 4-6 people

Ingredients

• 6-8 bone-in chicken thighs with skin (about 2.5 lbs)
• 1 large or 2 small onions, sliced
• 2-6 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1 lb sweet potatoes, cubed (about 2 potatoes)
• 1 lb broccoli, chopped into florets (about 2 heads)
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp dried thyme

Process

• Preheat oven to 375ºF
• Salt the chicken thighs generously all over
• Prep the veggies and lemon
• Arrange the onion, broccoli, sweet potatoes, and garlic in a baking dish (we use a 9"x12" oven-safe glass dish)
• Sprinkle the veggies with sea salt
• Arrange the chicken thighs skin side down on top of veggies.
• Melt the coconut oil until just liquid, then add the thyme. Drizzle half of the oil and thyme evenly over the chicken.
• Flip the chicken to skin side up. Drizzle the rest of the oil and thyme.
• Squeeze the lemon quarters all over and add to dish.
• Bake for at least 50 minutes, rotating halfway through. Check the thigh temperature in a few places - we like ours to reach 160ºF. Usually, we end up cooking for about an hour.
• Remove the dish and let rest for 5-10 minutes.
• We like it best served on top of mixed greens, but a grain could work well, too.

*Note: If the chicken is done, but veggies still need time, remove the thighs and set aside. Keep cooking veggies and check every 5 minutes or so.

We'd love to hear from you. What kind of recipes or information would you like to see on The Gantzery?