Southern Italian Chicken Thighs

My go-to dinner at least once a week = chicken thighs. I usually marinate them in Trader Joe's Soyaki, or make St. Claire's chicken, a family favorite. But, they lend themselves to other big, bold flavors like briny olives and fire-roasted tomatoes. For you low-carb'ers, serve these over a bed of lightly dressed arugula. For you carb-lovers, a bed of linguine will serve as a delicious bed for all the juices. 

I used Cabot sharp cheddar for the recipe because it is naturally lactose free, yes, you heard me right, it's lactose free! Cheddar is obviously not Italian, so feel free to substitute a fresh mozzerella or an aged Parmesan or Pecorino Romano in its place.

Southern Italian Chicken Thighs

serves 4

Ingredients

• 6 boneless and skinless chicken thighs
• 1 cup shredded Cabot Cheddar
• 1 can fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1/3 cup black olives, pitted and roughly chopped
• 2 shallots sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 1 teaspoon herbs de provence
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper, freshly ground

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 F. In a small bowl, mix together the garlic powder, onion powder, herbs de provence, salt and pepper. In a 9 x 13 baking dish, spread out the chicken thighs and drizzle with olive oil and evenly sprinkle on the spice mixture, flip and repeat.

Evenly spread out the minced garlic, sliced shallots, olives, canned tomatoes, and cheese. Add the white wine without disturbing the ingredients. On the middle rack, bake for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and adjust rack higher for broiling. Broil the chicken for 8-10 minutes until the top is golden brown and bubbly.

Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Serve over a bed of pasta or lightly dressed arugula. Alternately, it would make an awesome sandwich on a crunchy Italian loaf.

The seasoned chicken thighs headed into a hot oven!

Oatmeal Samoa Cookies

Healthy cookies, you say? Well, maybe not truly healthy, but they are delicious and filled with old-fashioned oats. These cookies came about from my desire to recreate the Samoa Girl Scout cookies with an oat-y twist.  

The key to this recipe, besides using good quality dark chocolate, is to use a coconut oil that has a lot of coconut flavor. An extra virgin variety will have retained more flavor than some conventional brands that have been further refined. Experiment a little and find the brand that you like, to get the best results. 

Oatmeal Samoas-Dairy-free

makes 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 3 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened dried coconut
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 cup coconut oil, room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate, roughly chopped, or dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped

A view inside the Oatmeal Samoa

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a medium bowl, combine oats, flour, dried coconut, salt and baking soda.

In a medium bowl, stir together coconut oil and brown sugar. Add egg, water and vanilla, mix to combine.

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet. Add the dark chocolate and pecans and stir to combine.

Using a small (2 1/2 Tablespoon) scoop, form cookies on a parchment lined sheet pan. Press down to flatten. Bake 12-14 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. For best results, bake one pan of cookies at a time. 

Cool 5 minutes on sheet pan, then remove to cooling rack. Cookies can be kept in an airtight container for a week.