Chicken with Zucchini and Olives

This is one of those things that came together from a "what can we whip up for dinner without going to the supermarket?" kind of evening. Chicken thighs, zucchini, black olives, and onions just come together to make a really nice, comforting dish that is mostly foolproof and fuss-free. And all you need is one saute pan.

For two people*, you will need:

• Four chicken thighs
• Two medium zucchinis
• One medium onion
• About 12 black pitted olives
• Salt and Pepper
• Dried parsley or other herbs to your liking
• About a tablespoon of butter

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Start by salting your chicken and letting it rest outside the fridge.

Next, peel the zucchini.

And dice them into cubes.

Slice the onion into long, thin slices.

And finally, slice up the olives.

I like to brown my onions by adding them, with some butter, to a cold saute pan that I then bring up on a medium-high heat. This way, the onions slowly warm up with the butter and infuse their flavours.

As the pan gets hot, the onions will start to sizzle. Stay in front of the pan and regularly toss the onions around.

And as the pan gets really hot, the onions will start to brown. Once they are browned, take them out of the pan and set them aside.

In the same pan, just with the onion-infused butter than is left, add the chicken thighs, skin side down first. The fat will render beautifully.

After a few minutes, the skin should be nicely browned and wonderfully crispy. You can turn the chicken now.

Let the other side cook for a few minutes and then remove the chicken and set aside.

In the same pan, add the zucchini.

Let the zucchini cook for a few minutes. The rendered fat from the chicken and the liquid from the zucchini should have provided enough liquid to deglaze the pan, which basically means you can use a flat wooden spatula to scrape off all those brown bits on the bottom and mix them with the zucchini.

Add the onions and chicken back into the pan.

Now cover the pan and leave it on medium heat for about 20 minutes. The zucchini will exude its juices, which will turn into steam and delicately cook the chicken.

After 20 minutes, add the olive slices and your herbs of choice (I went with parsley).

Again, cover and let it finish cooking for another 10 minutes.

Finally, plate and serve!

*Note: Since chicken thighs do not have a lot of meat, I normally serve two per person if it is all we are having for dinner. If you have a more elaborate multi-course meal planned, one thigh per person ought to be satisfactory.

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Shyamal Addanki

Portobellos stuffed with lamb

No reason to feel sheepish if you've never cooked lamb, this is quite baa-sic. 

You will need: ground lamb, portobello mushrooms*, mint, coriander, and feta cheese. I also add garlic and chilli flakes, but you can do whatever you want. 

We will be using the oven, so we start by preheating it to about 200 degrees, with an oven pan inside.

I chopped up my fresh mint and coriander leaves, because I was bored and wanted to play with my knife. If you only have the dried leaves in a spice rack, that is fine too.

I'm also going to add some chopped garlic and chilli flakes.

We are going to mix everything into the ground lamb, along with one egg. You need to get your hands in there and mix everything together to ensure the egg and spices get all over that ground lamb.

To prepare the portobellos, I cut the stems and hollow the insides a bit, to leave just the cap.

Next, you want to take a handfull of the ground lamb and firmly press it into a patty. I've made some large ones here, but you essentially want to make the patties the right size for your mushroom caps.

Simply place the lamb in the mushroom cap, on the preheated oven pan, and we'll put it in the oven.

It takes roughly 30 minutes in the oven, you want to check in from time to time.

While the portobellos are in the oven, cut some feta cheese. I cut them into cubes, you can even just crumble them up if you prefer.

After about 25 minutes, place the cubes or crumbled feta on the patties and put them back in the oven.

It should be ready to go once the cheese has a nice brown crust. Now just plate and serve!

Garnish with the mint leaves if you like, its really just aesthetic. 

For another slight variation, I just crumbled some feta and finely chopped up some mint leaves and mixed them together with a bit of olive oil to make a sauce.

*Tip: Don't throw away your portobello mushrooms, refer to our "Let's not waste anything!" page, and check out few ideas on how to use your portobello mushrooms.

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Shyamal Addanki