It was a cold and rainy night…but the only thing murdered was my dream of roasting a whole chicken in our cozy studio cottage! We arrived in Sonoma, California before dinnertime on a cold, rainy day in February (before Super Bowl Saturday). Our goal was to pick out a location for our upcoming wedding to take place in June. I hadn’t read the description closely and thought there was a full kitchen in the place. Luckily, we went there before the grocery store, to discover that there was a toaster oven, coffee pot and microwave, but nothing else for cooking. My vision of a nice roasted chicken was dashed. Time to pivot (a concept made popular a decade later – this was 2010, not 2020, when pivoting was all the rage). We went in search of a hot plate and a few other items to complete a kitchen.
The meal we ended up cooking was quick and delicious, with only 4 main ingredients. If you have an oven, use it! That’s for the chicken thighs and potatoes. Microwave the carrots and boil the sugar snap peas after the potatoes are done. Where there’s a will, there’s a way…
Chicken Thighs with Vegetables
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs bone in, skin on
- Herbes de Province or Italian Herbs (or just Thyme will also add a nice flavor) or, if you don't have them, forget the herbs!
- 8 thin carrots peeled
- 1/2 lb sugar snap peas ends and strings removed
- 10 small potatoes for roasting
- Olive oil
- Salt I like course salt
- Pepper
- Herbes de Province or Italian Herbs optional but desirable
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Boil the potatoes until they are soft but not mushy (this can be done up to a day in advance). Drain and put in bowl. Spray or pour olive oil on them. Sprinkle with salt and herbs if you like. Transfer to baking dish. Cook for 40 minutes or until they look brown and a little crispy. Stir occasionally throughout baking process.
- Peel carrots (sometimes you will find carrots already prepared for cooking). Put in baking dish and spray or brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt. Put in oven along side chicken thighs. Cook until carrots are soft and browned slightly (at least on one side).
- Sprinkle salt and pepper on the chicken thighs, front and back. Add Herbes de Province or Italian Herbs for additional flavor. Put in small baking dish, skin side up, and put in oven for 40 minutes or until skin is puffed and crisp-looking. Chicken thighs must be cooked to 165 degrees Fahrenheit, but I find they taste better if cooked longer, which is when the skin gets crispy (take care they don't dry out, however). There will be juices and fat in the pan. I pour it into a little ramekin or even a cup and put in the refrigerator. I take off the fat and use the jelled juices as seasoning in other dishes.
- Prepare sugar snap peas by cutting off ends and removing threads on both sides (or find prepared, ready to cook sugar snap peas). Boil a pot of water, enough to completely immerse sugar snap peas. Prepare a bowl of ice water for immersing sugar snap peas to stop cooking when they are parboiled. (Sugar snap peas should be cooked after carrots and thighs come out of oven.) Put sugar snap peas in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. They should still be crisp but hot throughout.) Drain and put immediately into ice water to stop cooking. Transfer to serving dish and spray or pour a small amount of olive oil on them. Add salt and pepper before serving.