SKILLET CHICKEN THIGHS WITH TOMATOES

Made this one last week with a "Good" review from Art. A quick weeknight recipe from the NYT

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon of fennel, cumin, or coriander seeds (I had none of these so I used about a teaspoon of ground coriander, which worked well)

• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (I used zest of two small lemons because we like lemons)

• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt

• 2 lbs chicken thighs.  (The recipe calls for bone-in, skin-on. I had boneless, skinless thighs which worked fine.)

• 2 cups of cherry tomatoes, halved

• 1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced

• Pinch of red pepper flakes

• Olive oil for drizzling

• ½ cup torn fresh basil or mint (I used our garden basil).

Prep

1. Heat your oven to 375 F.

2. If using any of the seeds, crush them in a pestle.  Then, combine them in a small bowl with the lemon zest and salt.

3. If using fennel, cumin, or coriander that's already ground, just combine all ingredients.

4. Rub the mixture all over the chicken thighs. If using skin-on chicken, use the rub over and under the skin.

5. Heat an ovenproof skillet over medium-high. A large cast iron skillet works well. (I added a tablespoon of olive oil to prevent the chicken from sticking to the pan.)

6. Once the pan is hot, cook the chicken skin side down until brown and the fat begins to render - about 6 to 10 minutes. (Since I used skinless, boneless chicken, the cooking time was much shorter)   

7. Flip the chicken pieces, then put them in the oven. Cook for about 25 minutes.

8. While the chicken is cooking, mix the tomatoes, red onion, a pinch of salt, and the red pepper flakes in a bowl.   Toss well to combine.

9. After the chicken is done cooking, remove from the oven and place on a platter.

10. Carefully pour any chicken fat from the pan into the tomato and red onion mixture. (The olive oil I added to the pan was actually beneficial here. It made pouring the fat in much easier.)

11. Toss the tomato and red onion mixture again to combine. Taste and add salt, if needed.

12. Pour the tomato and red onion mixture over the chicken thighs on the platter. The recipe says to drizzle olive oil over top, but with the added olive oil from the pan, it wasn't necessary).

13. Scatter the torn basil or mint over top. Add more red pepper flakes if you want more heat.

14. Serve!