Maybe not the quickest to cook, but prep/hands-on time takes no more than 5-10 minutes.� More importantly, you’re not running all over the kitchen breaking a sweat chopping, measuring, or sauteing, which is key if your budget is like mine and requires you to cook three times a day nearly seven days a week.
Twenty one times a week I’m in the kitchen cooking for children who are kind enough to offer constructive criticism after every meal.
On second thought, let’s not dwell too much on the depravity of it all.� I might do something rash, like cash in a bond, buy 1/16th of a tank of gas, and drive off into the sunset.� Or Vons, which is where I was shopping with the boys on Monday when I decided there wasn’t much I wanted to do less in this world than cook dinner.� Since take-out was not an option, I grabbed the ingredients for an ol’ lazy standby and made sure to pick side dishes The Brothers Zagat find least offensive.
Enter, roasted chicken thighs and onions.
There is no recipe. I set the oven to 375�. While the oven preheats, I go about rinsing the chicken, a practice I believe to be the biggest farce in all the land. Exactly how does a quick rinse of tap water effectively remove bacteria?� Explain it to me and then explain why we don’t use the same practice in operating rooms.� I’m researching my “options” on this matter and will return with a full report.
Thrilling, I know. Almost as thrilling as this non-recipe.
I toss all the thighs in a 13×9 dish. I halve and then quarter an onion and have it make friends with the chicken. Then I drizzle everything with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper, and roast it in the oven until it’s done, which I can tell by smell and sound but usually runs 45 minutes or so. If you like your chicken skin crispier, you can blast it with heat or raise the temperature to 400�-425� and shorten the roasting time, which I sometimes do if I am not cooking onions with the chicken. High temperatures and onions don’t usually get along (the sugar in the onion burns quickly) so in this case I kept the temperature moderate.
Then I microwave green beans in those handy, oh so over-priced, self-steaming bags. Try as I might, I doubt I will ever go back to trimming and steaming green beans. The speed and easy clean up sing a siren song to loud to ignore.
I also make a spinach salad.
Green beans and spinach. I can serve these two vegetables every night of the week and hear no complaints from the peanut gallery. The green beans I toss in butter (or olive oil) and seasonings. But! Might I suggest also adding a tablespoon or so of the pan drippings to the party? Sublime.
I do the same thing for the spinach salad, which I didn’t photograph because it is nothing more than a pile of raw spinach (not even a tomato!) tossed in homemade dressing that I make in the salad bowl before adding the spinach. EASY. A tablespoon of oil, some pan drippings (1 TB?), a little Dijon mustard, good vinegar, salt/pepper/seasonings.� Mix, mix, mix.� Throw the spinach in the bowl on top of your dressing and toss, toss, toss. Done.
And, for once, everyone ate without complaint.� Well, maybe not Nicholas.� He decided on Monday that he didn’t really like chicken anymore because “it’s too yucky.”� He ate, maybe, four bites of chicken.
Turd.
p.s.� The leftovers are great chopped up in a dinner salad.
At least your little ones wait until after dinner to offer their thoughts. Mine ask what we’re having, then commence groaning about it (no matter what it is).
And now I know what to do with the stacks of chicken thighs lurking in my freezer! Thank you.
PS – I LOVE the veggie steamer bags. They’ve totally changed our eating habits.
OMG, that is so funny! In my house I have: a 15 year old daughter turned vegetarian, a 12 year old son carnivore and major critic, my 88 year old MIL who doesn’t like anything spicy and has trouble eating some meats or veggies(can u say denture issues), myself struggling with weight issues, a husband who can eat ANYTHING and an irish setter who likes to steal food out of the garbage disposal, counter or table! Meal time in our house is nuts too. I feel your pain…
You must have gotten my telepathic signal that I am burned out on cooking and desperately need some relatively easy (and tasty) yet quickie (and healthy) dinner solutions over here. Thank you!!! Feel free to share as many recipes as you can stand.
Totally agree about washing chicken. Hilarious comparison to the O.R. I have a similar hypothesis for fruit and veggies! I often think, “what am I really doing here?” when I wash an apple and hand it to my child.
Yum!! Thanks for the easy inspiration. I know what to fix for supper now when I’m felling lazy enough to just eat peanut butter straight out of the jar.
Mmmm… quick and delicious. Thank you so …
I add a little white vinegar to my chicken. Leave for a few minutes before prepping, then rinse before I use dry seasonings. Sometimes the vinegar taste stays on and gives a little something extra. As far as rinsing with water, I think it is more of the rubbing bacteria off with water, but when you find out, do tell!
Jules – As someone who has one of her degrees from the C.I.A., there is no scientific basis for rinsing the chicken. I’m sure it makes people feel better (like they’re doing the “right thing”) but…. well, that’s it. Don’t quote me – but I would bet this practice started as a “safeguard” against whatever people thought was happening to their chicken during production. The best thing you can do for your chicken is keep it in the lowest part of the fridge and cook it all the way through.
Also, you’re correct in assuming that *tap water* is doing NOTHING to “clean” the chicken and any bacteria that are there naturally will be killed when you cook it.
Now, if you don’t like the chicken juices and a person is rinsing it to get rid of those, that’s a different story. Though it’s still just cosmetic.
Ok – stepping off my soap box.
AHA! I KNEW IT! Completely bogus. The only thing I see the water doing is creating steam in the oven, which in my mind ruins any chance at that extra crispy skin. I have found one fruit/vegetable/meat rinse (homemade, naturally) that might work, but I have to do more research on the science behind it before I proclaim victory.
I had no idea you went to CIA. In Pasadena? You know, I was accepted there and almost went. Another one of my many career moves.
I think this is the best non-recipe ever. Thanks for posting!
I rinse my chicken for psychological reasons (makes me feel like I’ve done all I can to get rid of chicken cooties) otherwise I’ve wondered the same thing!
I rinse mine for psychological reasons, too!
Don’t rinse mine. Lazy. Anyways. I usually take a whole chicken, cut it open from the tail to the neck and flatten it. pour a little, white wine, salt and pepper and put in oven 450 for 45 min or more if I want crispier. That’s it. Yum. Then I eat the thighs :D
My son at around 6-7 used to think every meat I made was chicken. Even if I made pork, it was chicken. He told me he was sick of chicken. Oh brother. That was a tough stage. Now I deal with a 17 y.o. daughter who’s a vegetarian. “I need my protein” is all I hear. It never ends.
Oh I love butterflied chicken! But, I am SO LAZY about cutting it. I know, that sounds stupid, but the thought of taking 10 seconds to cut it sometimes seems insurmountable. Still, that sounds delicious and I will have to put it on the menu for next week. Yum!
I really like the idea of those vegetable steamer bags, but have been reluctant to use them. I thought we weren’t supposed to put plastic in the microwave anymore unless it’s a special kind. Anyone know if this applies to those bags? Am I totally wrong about this?
No, I’ve heard the same thing. I’ve decided to look the other way on this one. For now.
Lol, he doesn’t like chicken anymore, that’s classic…
Actually, according the USDA you’re NOT supposed to rinse chicken anymore. It just spreads bacteria around to your sink, your counter, utensils, etc. And as the USDA also points out, any bacteria present on the chicken�s surface will be destroyed if you cook the poultry properly and thoroughly.
By the way, I love your blog! I just recently discovered it and stayed up reading really late one night – like till 2 in the morning. I love your wit and humor and as a mother can totally relate on so many things you write about. By the way, make that the 4 people that didn’t know Christian fiction existed. I’m a big reader and didn’t know it existed until you brought it up :)
Aha! Tana is right. I just went to the website and read this:
Rinsing or Soaking Chicken
It is not necessary to wash raw chicken. Any bacteria which might be present are destroyed by cooking.
You can read the full article on the USDA website. It would appear that so long as you are cooking your chicken all the way through you will be fine. If you are not cooking it properly, well, that is totally disgusting and you deserve to pray to the porcelain god.
My four year old granddaughter once announced at dinner “this chicken tastes funny Grandma”. I proclaimed, “that’s because it’s beef, sweetie”…
Kids and thier meat.
I too rinse MEAT, chicken, turkey, pork, beef, all except ground beef/chicken/pork or turkey. My mother once told me it was to get off all the bone shavings…not so much bacteria. The heat in cooking is supposed to kill cooties, righ? RIGHT?
Anybody else have a husband who won’t touch raw chicken? Seriously…? My husband is a burly Irish biker with no qualms about having to lay hands on a drunk he needs to eject from a bar when he is bouncing, but he will NOT touch a raw chicken breast. Meat, fine. Chicken, no. If I were drowning in a vat of chicken breasts, I’m pretty sure that he would be unable to rescue me. Anybody else have this issue? Is this some bizarre man thing? Or just my man…?
HAH! The idea of anyone drowning in a vat of raw chicken breasts…I’m still laughing. :) My husband doesn’t seem to have a problem touching raw meat, but he is a total and complete wimp when it comes to taking liquid medicine, like Nyquil. Gagging, coughing, shuddering…it’s quite the production.
I make chicken this way too, except instead of pepper I sprinkle hungarian paprika and garlic powder in addition to the salt. Everyone that comes over loves the taste of those two additions, try it next time you make this chicken recipe.
I really should stop commenting on my own blog. It may seem tacky. Oh well. :)
This is actually a really good tip. My mom always sprinkled paprika on her chicken for flavor and because it gave the chicken such a pretty roasted color if you were doing it at a low temp. I used to do it, but ran out. All I have now is smoked, Spanish paprika which is very strong in flavor. Garlic powder I haven’t had luck with. It seems to burn, but when I roast it low, like 350�, it seems to do okay. It’s delicious, too.
Hey Jules,
You shouldn’t rinse chicken even for cosmetic purposes – in rinsing it you are spreading the bacteria more around the kitchen. Def just through it in the tray and pop it in the oven! That’s the only way to do it. It’s more than hot enough to kill all those nasty little bacteria…
Sorry for the delay in responding – I’ve been reading through your blog from the beginning and it rocks, you have two beautiful boys and a blessed life.
Keep blogging!
Jo