Crispy Baked Chicken Thighs

One pan dinners are so easy and convenient.  This was a good one.  I used the same seasoning for the chicken, potatoes, and garden carrots.  It was excellent on the chicken, good on the potatoes, not as great on the carrots.  I should have added garlic to the carrots and potatoes.  I think I'll stick with my balsamic garlic carrot recipe in the future.  But for the chicken, the rub was yummy and the skin was crispy and the meat was juicy.  No complaints.

Crispy Baked Chicken Thighs

Ingredients:

4 chicken thighs

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

Directions:

Pat the chicken dry and place on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Rub olive oil into the chicken.   In a small bowl, combine all the dry seasonings.  Rub all over the chicken.  Bake in preheated 400º oven for about 30 minutes (depends on size of thighs) until internal temperature reaches 165º.

Balsamic Honey Brussels Sprouts

 

We harvested one of the two Brussels sprouts plants in our garden for dinner.  The plants didn't do as well as last year.  The sprouts were smaller and fewer.  We planted them in the back garden this time where it's a lot shadier so that might be the reason.  Anyway....  This recipe was amazing.  Yummy sweet sprouts. Definitely will use this one for my future sprouts.  

Balsamic Honey Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients:

1 lb Brussels sprouts, stemmed and halved

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper

1/2 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Directions:

Toss the sprouts with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and place on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Bake at 425º for 20 minutes until tender and golden brown.   

In a small bowl, combine the honey and vinegar.  Drizzle or spoon over the sprouts and toss to coat.  Adjust seasonings if necessary.  Enjoy.

Ginger Carrot Soup

The only things left in the garden are lots of carrots and a couple brussels sprouts plants.  On the advice of friends, I decided to try making carrot soup.  This was an easy recipe.  I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would--which is good because the recipe made a lot of soup.   I cheated and used squeeze bottle ginger instead of grated.  It still tasted fine. It didn't need extra salt, but we did add pepper.

Ginger Carrot Soup

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients: 

2 tablespoons butter

2 onions, chopped

6 cups chicken broth

2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced

2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

1 cup whipping cream

salt and pepper to taste

parsley, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Melt butter in a large stock pot over medium-high heat.  Add onions and cook until soft, stirring often.  Add broth, carrots, and ginger.  Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer until carrots are tender, about 30-40 minutes.

Remove from heat and transfer to a blender in batches, filling no more than halfway.  Blend until smooth.   Return soup to pot and add cream.  Stir and heat until hot.  Add salt and pepper to taste.