Do you see how green the sauce is on that chicken up there? It’s really green, right?
Well, I’m here today to tell you that my kids ate that chicken with the very green sauce all over it! That sauce has vegetables in it! It has herbs! It’s a sauce!
I can hardly believe it.
They weren’t so hip when they first saw it on their plates and, in fact, one or more of my children may have said “Oh no!!” when they sat down at the table. But after a little prompting, they tried it and to my astonishment, they both cleaned their plates.
Here is the recipe for this astonishing chicken dish:
Tomatillo-Braised Chicken Thighs
recipe courtesy of Cooking Light
Ingredients
- 12 ounces tomatillos (about 5 medium), husks removed
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1 medium jalapeño pepper, halved and seeded
- 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/2 cup unsalted chicken stock
- 1 1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
- 8 bone-in chicken thighs (about 1 3/4 pounds), skinned
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
- 3 tablespoons Mexican crema
Preparation
- Preheat broiler to high.
- Place first 3 ingredients on a jelly-roll pan; broil 9 minutes, turning after 5 minutes. Combine tomatillo mixture, cilantro, stock, and flour in a blender; process until smooth. (I used a food processor and it worked fine.)
- Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add chicken to pan, meaty side down; cook 5 minutes or until browned. Turn chicken over; top with tomatillo mixture. Partially cover pan; reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 9 minutes or until chicken is done. (My chicken thighs were large, so I needed to cook them much longer than the times listed here to ensure they were fully cooked. I suggest starting with the times here and checking the chicken before pulling it out of the pan.)
- Sprinkle with tomatoes; top with crema.
Modifications
As I mentioned up in the recipe, I needed to simmer my chicken longer than the 9 minutes the recipe indicated. Keep that in mind so you don’t put half-cooked chicken on everyone’s plate. I served this over a bed of rice to soak up the delicious sauce and then I placed a platter of sliced watermelon on the table as a side dish.
The Verdict
They kids liked this, but Zach and I looooooved it. The sauce was fresh, herb-y, tangy and just a little bit spicy. We were both so happy with it that we’d like to add it to our regular recipe rotation.
What are you cooking for dinner this week? Tried any good recipes lately? Please link up in the comments!
