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Like many of you, autumn is my most-absolute favorite time of year. Part of our Annual Fall Family Day consists of vegetable picking as a family, and boy did I get a TON of squash! So, for this particular dish, I cooked it up with some chicken thighs and the green-and-purple beans we picked wrapped in bacon (let's just say The Hubster was HAPPY!!)
CHICKEN THIGHS AND SQUASH
2 pkgs chicken thighs
extra virgin olive oil (evoo)
sea salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
3 cups squash, any kind, peeled and cubed
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tbs dried rosemary
3 tbs dried sage
2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp pepper
2 cups vegetable (or chicken works here, too) stock or broth
1/2 cup parsley, chopped fine
In a large, heavy oven-safe skillet (I use my cast-iron, of course!), pour enough evoo to cover the bottom and heat on medium. Meanwhile, sprinkle both sides of the chicken thighs with sea salt and pepper to your taste. Place thighs top-side-down first into the heated pan. Let sear and brown well before turning, about four-to-five minutes and the same on the other side. Remove from heat and let rest on a plate covered in paper towel. Heat your oven to 350 degrees. To the same pan and on the same medium heat, add your squash, onion, garlic, rosemary, sage, nutmeg, sea salt, and pepper and stir. Let cook for about five minutes, stirring occasionally. Add your vegetable stock and scrape the bottom of your pan for all those goodie-brown-bits with a wooden spoon. Turn off the heat and return the thighs to the pan, nestling them in between the squash mixture. Cover and place the entire pan in the oven and let it braise by continuing to cook it for another 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with parsley, and cover and let rest for five minutes. Lift the lid. Smell the wonder of autumn. Then, eat the MESS out of it!
NOTES I served this over brown rice and with the side of bacon-wrapped green bean stacks, but if you want low-carb, simply omit the rice.