sustaining sloan

I love Minnesota. It’s awesome. But what isn’t awesome is this transition from winter to spring that really is just a prolonged winter. It’s been WAY TOO COLD and WAY TOO SNOWY so far this March/April, and I’m so ready for warmer temps and even some rain showers instead of snow flurries. BUT, I can’t complain at all because lower temps are equivalent in my brain to finding easy ways to create one-pot sweet notes of spring while still finding some warmth. QUEUE: one pot white wine lemon chicken. Honestly, this was one of the easiest recipes I’ve made. It requires one single dish (is anyone else noticing a pattern of this one stop shop cooking…? AM I RESOURCEFUL, OR AM I JUST LAZY? I guess the jury is still out on that one). Prep & cook time is a bit longer on this, but you can really modify it to fit your needs however it looks for you.

Disclaimer: I don’t normally cook with wine, so if this is not proper, oops. All I know is that it tastes divine.

Here’s what you need:

• chicken thighs (we use a Costco pack- about 2lbs or 4-5 individual thighs)
• ghee or grassfed butter (use as much or as little as you’d like- I’d suggest about 2tbsp)
• mushrooms (1 pack, about 2 cups)
• shallot (1, chopped)
• garlic (2 tsp, minced)
• apples (2, cut into 1 1/2 to 2 inch pieces, any type will work but I used Gala)
• carrots (6, cut down the middle the long way for optimal cooking)
• lemon (1 full lemon, use the juice of 1/2 and cut the other half into slices)
• mini potatoes (about half a package, but you can modify if you like extra taters)
• white wine (chardonnay worked great)
• salt & pepper
• rosemary
• thyme

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. While the oven is preheating, chop the mushroom, shallot, apples, carrots.
3. Season the chicken thighs with salt, pepper, rosemary & thyme. Place them on the bottom of the dutch oven. Add the ghee/butter to the bottom of the pan and turn the stovetop to medium heat.
4. While the butter is melting, add in the garlic, shallot, and mushroom. Squeeze in half of a lemon. Mix generously.
5. Add the apples, carrots, and mini potatoes. Pour in about a cup of white wine.
6. Season the entire dish with salt, pepper, rosemary, and thyme. Garnish the top with lemon slices.
7. Place the top on the dutch oven, and move into oven for 60 minutes. (Option to remove the top of the dutch oven with 15 minutes of cooking time left to crisp the top).
8. Remove and let cool. ENJOY!

Fingers crossed that we are out of the cold and into a new, springy season. Either way, this one pot meal is convenient and feels light. Dare I say, it’s the perfect transition from cold into slightly less cold. The beautiful thing about this recipe is that you can add your favorite seasonings or veggies to make it your own creation. This is just a starting point.

Here’s to warmer thoughts ahead.