Browned Chicken Thighs with Fingerling Potatoes and Cherry Tomatoes

I've been having so much fun creating recipes for my new cookbook is should be illegal.Ma'am, you're under arrest for finding far too much joy in that chicken thigh dish. Please step away from the spatula.On top of the food being downright delicious, it's been wonderful to harvest so much of it from our garden! We're at the real peek of produce right now - the garden is busting at the seams, even if just for a few more weeks before our first frost arrives. Until that time, I'm eating as much of the deliciousness as my little stomach can take. So much goodness, it should be illegal!Ma'am, you're now under arrest for eating far too many grape tomatoes and green beans. Please step away from the fork.I don't care what they say - I'll keep having fun and eating fantastic food! Browned chicken thighs with fingerling potatoes and cherry tomatoes included. Please note, in dishes like this with such minimal ingredients, quality matters. If you're not growing your own food at the moment, hit up a local farmer or the local market and get the goods. There is no parallel for fresh, local, organic produce in the grocery store aisles. 

Browned Chicken Thighs with Fingerling Potatoes and Cherry Tomatoes

You will need: - 2 pounds fingerling potatoes - 8 chicken thighs (preferably from organic, pastured poultry) - 2 tablespoons olive oil - Sea salt and black pepper - 1 1/2 pounds cherry tomatoes - 1/4 cup fresh oregano - 3 tablespoons olive oil - 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar1. Put the fingerling potatoes into a medium size pot and cover with filtered water. Boil until fork tender, drain, and set aside.2. While the potatoes are boiling, cut the chicken thighs into 3-4 strips each. No need to be precise. I don't know if you've noticed this about me yet but I hate being precise. Hence the reason I'm a pretty terrible baker. Measurements are for... people who like to be precise.3. Place the chicken thigh strips into a large bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil and add a few generous pinches of sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper. (Yes. Freshly ground black pepper matters. At least to me.) Use your hands to toss the chicken so that it is coated evenly with the oil and seasoning. Place the chicken in a large cast iron skillet (like this one!) or dutch oven or a large baking dish of your choice.4. Puncture each cherry tomato with a small knife and combine all the punctured cherry tomatoes in a bowl. Cover with boiling water and allow them to sit for 1 or 2 minutes. Drain the hot water off and carefully pinch the skin off of each tomato. Ain't nobody be wantin' to choke on a tomato skin - plus, this helps the tomatoes to release all those delicious juices which we reallllly want to have all over our chicken. Just trust me on this one and don't skip this step!5. Add the fingerling potatoes and the skinned cherry tomatoes in with the chicken and gently stir in. Mmm! See it's potential? Layers of delicious chicken, tomatoes, and potatoes are beginning to unfold...6. Lastly, combine the fresh oregano, olive oil, and cider vinegar together in a blender or food processor. Blend until just combined - about 15 seconds. Pour this oregano oil over the chicken dish.7. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 45 minutes, or until just gently browned on top. Garnish with sea salt, fresh pepper, and some more oregano.Dude. Duuuuude. I, literally, licked my plate clean while eating this dish. Is that bad manners? Ma'am, you're under arrest for having terrible table manners. Even if the dish was that delicious, I'm going to need you to put your tongue back in your mouth and step away from the plate...I'd say that I felt bad for having such horrid table manners but the 3 other people who enjoyed this dish with me practically did the same thing. We ate the entire dish - not a cherry tomato remained. We looked like ravaged wolves as we ate it.*Snarf, snarf, snarf*Paired with a nice wine and you'd like hard pressed to ever find me eating anything else. What can I say? I'm a sucker for one-pot dishes that are so good it's practically a spiritual experience.  Go ahead and lick your plate. No judgement here.

Browned Chicken Thighs with Fingerling Potatoes and Cherry Tomatoes

• 2 pounds fingerling potatoes
• 8 chicken thighs (preferably from organic, pastured poultry)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Sea salt and black pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 cup fresh oregano
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1. Put the fingerling potatoes into a medium size pot and cover with filtered water. Boil until fork tender, drain, and set aside.
2. While the potatoes are boiling, cut the chicken thighs into 3-4 strips each.
3. Place the chicken thigh strips into a large bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil and add a few generous pinches of sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper. (Yes. Freshly ground black pepper matters. At least to me.) Use your hands to toss the chicken so that it is coated evenly with the oil and seasoning. Place the chicken in a large cast iron skillet or dutch oven or a large baking dish of your choice.
4. Puncture each cherry tomato with a small knife and combine all the punctured cherry tomatoes in a bowl. Cover with boiling water and allow them to sit for 1 or 2 minutes. Drain the hot water off and carefully pinch the skin off of each tomato.
5. Add the fingerling potatoes and the skinned cherry tomatoes in with the chicken and gently stir in.
6. Lastly, combine the fresh oregano, olive oil, and cider vinegar together in a blender or food processor. Blend until just combined – about 15 seconds. Pour this oregano oil over the chicken dish.
7. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 45 minutes, or until just gently browned on top. Garnish with sea salt, fresh pepper, and some more oregano.

 For other great meal ideas, no matter what your dietary restrictions, check out the meal planning service I use: Real Plans.