It's getting quite chilly where I live and I felt like comfort food tonight. I used two recipes as foundations for estimated cooking times and tweaked them both to fit our preferences. What resulted was a one-pot dish that was warm and filling.

I used chicken thighs here because that's what I had on hand, but next time I'd probably use chicken breasts simply because I like the taste and texture better. I usually reserve chicken thighs for slow cooker meals because I think they hold up better than breasts over long cooking times, but I didn't have any chicken breast in the freezer, so thighs it was (? Were. Was...I think. #badgrammar).

I bought cubed butternut squash over the weekend so that was an easy addition, and to really overkill my beta carotene intake I added diced carrots and a red bell pepper as well. I hope I look orange tan tomorrow.

Instead of heavy cream I used half and half, and I added in some saffron threads, because again, orange is the name of the game. Next time I'd also add some fresh rosemary in with the oregano.

Ingredients

• skinless, boneless chicken breasts or thighs, 1-1.5 lb (I had chicken thighs with skins but just removed the skin prior to cooking and trimmed excess fat)
• yellow onion, 1 small/medium or 1/2 large, diced
• garlic, 1-3 cloves based on preference, minced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• carrots, peeled and diced, 4-5 depending on size
• cooking oil, canola or olive, 1-3 Tbsp
• smoked or hot paprika, 1-1.5 tsp
• white wine, 1/2 cup
• half and half, 1/2 cup
• fresh oregano, 3-6 sprigs based on preference; dried ~ 1/2-1 tsp
• saffron threads, I used about 7, but per preference
• 1 fresh lemon

Directions

1. Heat large pan with oil (3-4 qt sauté pan or in my case it is an All-Clad Sauté/Simmer pan - any of their hybrid, "everyday," "one pot" pans are a good deal and easy way to cut down the number of pans in your kitchen)
2. Season chicken with salt and pepper and sear for several minutes on both sides until browned.
3. In the meantime wash, peel, and dice all veggies. Once chicken is browned, transfer to plate. Add in the onion, butternut squash, and carrots to the pan (there should be enough oil/cooking juices remaining so you don't need to add more oil).
4. Sauté for 5-6 minutes until they start to soften. Add in the garlic and bell pepper; cook another 3-4 minutes until the squash and carrots start to become a bit more tender. Add in the paprika and toss to coat well.
5. Add the white wine, lightly simmer until a little reduced (4-6 minutes). Add in the cream, saffron threads, and return chicken to the pan. Cook for another 3-4 minutes and then add in the oregano.
6. Continue cooking until chicken is cooked through (this depends on how much you cooked it during the searing process and how thick your chicken is).
7. Squeeze some fresh lemon on the whole dish and toss.

You could serve this dinner with a salad, cooked broccoli or Brussels sprouts, or over pasta, rice, couscous or cauliflower rice. I would have opted for cauliflower rice, but husband vetoed that. And Brussels sprouts. And broccoli. And a salad...

Whelp, it did pair quite nicely with a Sam Adams seasonal beer, so we did agree on that. Cheers!