This is another one of those dishes that started without a plan. A package of chicken thighs and no clue. But, after a little kitchen wizardry, the end result was worthy of a post.
Although my last post included a date sauce, I’m really not much of a sauce person. That said, I think what makes this dish especially interesting is the preparation of the sauce. Hint: Another title for this post could have been: “How to hide your vegetables in plain sight.”
Ingredients
chicken thighs (skin on)
sherry vinegar
sliced onions
Spanish olives
almonds
carrot
spinach
mushrooms
noodles
olive oil
S+P
paprika
garlic
star anise
fennel seeds
bay leaf
Directions
After cleaning and trimming chicken thighs of visible fat and placing them in a glass baking dish, I seasoned them with the dry spices and then generously drizzled sherry vinegar over the top and set it aside to marinate while I sliced carrots, garlic and onions and heated the oven to 350.
Before putting the dish in the oven, I added the vegetables, bay leaf, fennel seeds, star anise, almonds and Spanish olives. Bake for about 40 minutes, last few under the broiler to crisp up and brown skin.
Meantime, I sauteed spinach and mushrooms and cooked the noodles to serve alongside the chicken. Toss the noodles, spinach, and mushrooms.
My Foodie Secret and The Sauce
My secret is I’m not crazy about eating cooked onions (unless, of course, they’re caramelized or fried crispy). So, after everything was cooked, I took the onions, a piece or two of the carrots and the juice in the baking pan and blended it into a chunky sauce. And that’s the wizardy that made this post worthy. The sauce was delicious and served both the chicken and the noodle side dish. 
It brings to mind that this is a good technique for cooks dealing with finicky vegetable eaters. My suggestion is to cook with lots of fresh vegetables…then “hide them in plain sight” by disguising them into sauces, purees and other unexpected applications.
17 Comments
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Great idea to make veggie sauces for picky eaters, thanks!
The sauce sounds amazing!
I just did the same thing — pureeing veggies into a sauce. This looks delicious and the photos are especially impressive.
Every great dish always starts with not much planning & this dish is no exception!Your pictures are making me extremely hungry!
I am a fan of hiding vegetables especially with our kids..of course now my own daughter has a more refined palette than I do:D
You amaze me with your “no planned” cooking! I love the whole concept of this dish Joan.
Thank you all. For me, the fun of cooking is ‘winging it’. No plan – just opening doors and drawers and seeing what inspires me.
This sauce sounds fabulous! Yum
I love chicken thighs and I love the wonderful flavors you’ve infused here – the star anise with the fennel and olives!
Wow recipe & Wow pics!
Ciao, Devaki
This looks really delicious. Might make it today for my client. You make life easy for me
At my house we call this Default Pasta! But I think you knew that. GREG
Joan, you used one of my favorite ingredients – sherry vinegar. I love your onion trick too. I’m making a note.
Sam
This is how you sneak veggies into kids’ diets!
I’m diggin the star anise, bay and paprika.
Wow, nice dish and sure you did a great job hiding the veggies
Great pictures!
Without a plan is the motto of the inventions like this case, a yummy way to eats vegs!!
Cheers,
Gera
A bit of this, a dash of that… sounds like my kind of dish Joan. Seems that my best is never planned. In fact, until I started the blog I never measured anything. This looks fabulous. I would have to cook those onions otherwise my stomach would be screaming.
Blend the veg into the sauce, great idea! Love the olives and almonds here too.
LL
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