Some of my favorite kinds of recipes are the ones that don’t require a lot of effort, but taste like they’ve been in the works all day. Mussels definitely fit the bill, but when I’m looking for an entire dinner, my go to is a chicken recipe that I made up a few years ago when trying to find a more interesting way to cook chicken thighs. I’m sure I’m not the first one to discover the delights of cooking chicken parts on top of a bed of onions, mushrooms and carrots, but I’m unquestionably a beneficiary. The result is a one-pot dish that takes about 10 minutes of prep but more than stands up for a fancy Sunday dinner.
This recipe is about as simple as it gets, and that’s the point. It’s not a recipe to haul out the cookbook to make, nor is it something that you need to worry about which ingredients you’ve forgotten. At the essence, it’s 4 ingredients — chicken, carrots, mushrooms, onions. Add some white wine, herbs, and cornstarch, and it’s a meal. The drippings from the chicken flavor the onions, mushrooms and carrots as they cook, adding a richness that oil alone doesn’t match. Finish it off with a splash of white wine and a sprinkle of corn starch, and you have a rich sauce to carry the flavor through the meal.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 or 5 chicken thighs, as many as will fit uncrowded in your skillet
- 4 carrots
- A box of mushrooms
- 1 large or 2 medium onions, sliced
- Olive oil
- 1/2 cup white wine
- Cornstarch
- Herbes de Provence (or thyme or oregano)
 Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Slice carrots, mushrooms and onions. Place in cast iron skillet (or another oven-proof skillet) and drizzle with olive oil, salt, herbs and black pepper. Mix until coated.
Place chicken thighs on top of vegetables. Sprinkle thighs with salt, herbs and pepper.
Roast until thighs are at 165. This generally takes about 45 minutes.
Remove thighs from skillet, set aside. Put skillet on the stovetop and crank up the heat. Add white wine, about 1/2 cup or to taste. Sprinkle cornstarch a teaspoon at a time, stirring frequently, until sauce is thickened slightly.