Necessity is the mother of invention. In this case, I had recently purchased a pack of chicken thighs, without a clear idea of what to do with them — except that now I was home from work and dinner time was looming, I needed an easy solution, and a fairly quick one. So I opened the fridge and cupboards to see what my options were. I guess I could have asked ChatGPT to come up with a recipe, but that would have meant inputting the available ingredients into a prompt, which 1) I was too lazy to do, and also, 2) I like to think that the non-artificial intelligence center within my cranium is still capable of putting 1+1, or 2+3, together to come up with something to eat. (But ask me next week…).
The result of my kitchen scan? I had cherry tomatoes that definitely needed using and some yellow squash from the garden that was now languishing in the crisper bin. Hmmm. What else was in the fridge? There was feta, kalamata olives, and cream. And rosemary outside. An idea began to form. So, what follows is a non-recipe recipe, without actual amounts. I’m confident that no matter how you yourself approach this dish, you can’t go wrong. The ingredients combine into something really, really good!
Mediterranean Chicken with Feta and Olives
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Salt and pepper
Dried oregano
Fresh rosemary, finely chopped
Olive oil (I used garlic-infused olive oil)
Cherry tomatoes, cut in half
Yellow summer squash (or zucchini if you have it), diced
Kalamata olives
Feta cheese (cubed or crumbled)
Heavy cream
Oregano (dried or fresh)
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350 F (180C).
- Sprinkle both sides of the chicken thighs with salt, pepper, oregano, and rosemary.
- In a large heavy-bottomed pot, saute the thighs in olive oil over high heat until they are no longer pink on the outside and have picked up a bit of color.
- Place the thighs, and any juices or crispy bits from the pot, into a casserole dish large enough to fit the thighs in one layer.
- Sprinkle the olives, tomatoes, squash, and feta around the thighs, drizzle with some cream, and sprinkle a little more salt, pepper, and oregano over top.
6. Bake, covered, for about 30 minutes, or until the tomatoes and squash are soft.
You can serve this multiple ways: with crusty bread to soak up the creamy, tomato-ey broth, over quinoa or rice, with potatoes or other roast vegetables, etc.
Perennial Pastimes 