For everyone here in the northeast, you’re probably sharing in the sweltering heat of these past few days. It’s been perfect grilling weather. In fact, it might actually be too hot to grill. This combined with the fact that our backyard is currently undergoing a transformation leaving our grill inaccessible and we’ve been cooking inside quite a bit lately. I wanted grilled chicken and instead whipped this up. It was so good, I tried to lick the plate when no one was looking. I think Walter was jealous that I didn’t leave anything for him to lick up.
It was too hot to get out the camera so here are some phone photos. More and more I find myself using the phone to document things. It has the advantage of being readily available but the disadvantage of less control over the image and poorer image quality. But, as my husband points out, the best camera is the one that you have and use. So we’ll go with it. We enjoyed this with farm fresh corn and a simple potato salad. And there you have it. Zero to dinner in less than 30 minutes. Bam!
Chicken Leg Dinner
Serves 2-4, depending on hunger level, and generosity of sides.
- 1 package of chicken legs (ours had 5 legs), rinsed and trimmed
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 4 carrots, peeled
- 1 yellow squash
- 1/2 c. vegetable or chicken stock
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- salt & pepper
- fresh parsley
- Quarter and thinly slice onion. Slice carrots into rounds. Quarter and slice squash.
- Heat large saucepan over medium heat.
- To hot oil, add sliced onion. Stir and cook for 5-7 minutes to caramelize onion.
- When onions start to turn golden, add carrots and stir for another 1-2 minutes.
- Move onions and carrots to edges of pan and create space to add legs to center of pan, directly against the pan surface.
- Turn heat up towards high. Let legs sizzle and cook for a few minutes. Season legs with salt and pepper.
- Carefully turn over legs. Season other side with salt and pepper.
- Lower heat back to medium. Add yellow squash to pan.
- Cook 1-2 minutes. Add vegetable (or chicken) stock. Cover pan.
- Check on how everything is doing. Add water if the stock has boiled out. Stir the veggies on the sides.
- Vegetables should be cooked down and nice and dark. Legs should have a bit of a crispy skin.
- Serve with garnish of fresh parsley.