Most people can't seem to get enough chicken breast these days. Every chicken dish everywhere seems to made with chicken breast and the butcher shelves at the grocery seem to be filled with endless trays of "boneless-skinless." We are a nation addicted to chicken fingers and white meat. So many television commercials for foods like chicken nuggets and the like, boast of using "all white-meat chicken" and the vast majority of people will tell you they dislike dark meat. Is it any wonder that commercially raised chickens these days are bred and genetically modified to have such enormous breasts that they can't even hardly walk?
Why? What is so wrong with the rest of the chicken? The whole bird is nutritious, and actually, there are many parts of the chicken that healthier and tastier than the breast. I believe this all started with our phobia of fat a couple of decades ago, when low-fat and no-fat was the craze and the medical advise at the time was "eat a low-fat, high grain diet so you don't die early." We know now nothing could be further from the truth. Eating a high carb, low fat diet is actually what drives heart disease, diabetes and a host of other health problems. A diet high in grains, especially refined wheat flour leads to insulin resistance and higher inflammatory response in the body. Fat, especially high quality animal fats (no, McDonald's meat doesn't count!) and some fresh, cold-pressed plant fats (not ones high in omega-6s like soy or canola) is essential to a healthy brain, nerves and muscle function.
Fat also often carries and is needed to absorb fat soluble vitamins like vitamin E, A and K and dark meat is also often richer in vitamins and minerals like iron. That's why I enjoy the darker meats on poultry guilt free and want to share with you a recipe I love using my favorite part of a chicken--THIGHS! A lot of people, including my own family, will say they don't like thighs because they are too greasy and some other reason I forget. However, I feel thighs are like the bacon of the chicken. Yes, they are greasy, but boy are they packed with flavor! A chicken breast can easily dry out and become a tasteless, chewy mess, but chicken thighs always go the distance. Plus, because people don't like them as much, they are super cheap!
This dish I made at Christmas this year is so simple, but so delicious. Let's get started.
Get a package of chicken thighs which often come with 6-8 thighs. Be sure they are completely thawed if frozen and then pat them dry with a paper towel. Get a large skillet (one of those chicken-fryer pans work well) well heated and then place your thighs skin side down in the pan. Let the skin sear for a few minutes and then flip them over and do the same to the other side. Remove from heat.
At this point, if your skillet is oven safe, you can leave the thighs where they are, but if not, transfer them to an 8x8 pan or other oven safe baking dish. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Cut up a bell pepper into strips (any color you like is fine, though I prefer red) and also slice a yellow or red onion into either strips or rough quarters. Use two if your onions are small. Scatter the veggies around the chicken in the pan. If you'd like to create a gravy like sauce with this, toss the veggies in some flour before adding to the pan. Sprinkle salt and pepper over everything. Optionally, you could also sprinkle your favorite seasoning on the whole dish here or pop in some smashed garlic cloves, but there will be plenty of flavor even if you don't do this.
Pop the pan in the oven and set a timer for 30-40 minutes. You want to flip the thighs with tongs halfway through cooking, but it is not essential. You'll know it's done when your kitchen smells ridiculously delicious.
Remove from the oven and serve. You will be amazed how delicious this is and how the thighs literally make their own sauce that makes the vegetables almost taste better than the chicken and is delightful to soak up with a piece of crusty bread.
