You want to make the most of your evenings during the week. After working all day you’re tired and hungry. You don’t want to eat out or even eat prepackaged dinners.
You want a simple quick but delicious one-pan dinner recipe that can be made with minimal effort.
Cider Braised Chicken With Apples and Kale is that recipe. It’s a one-skillet meal that won’t leave you with an overflowing sink of dirty pots and pans.
One skillet meals can either be cooked on the stovetop or roasted in the oven.
About Kale The Leafy Green
Dark leafy greens like kale, are a good source of fiber, vitamin-C, Vitamin-K, and phytonutrients, that protect against disease.
Green leafy vegetables also contain carotenoids, indoles, saponins, and chlorophyll – all which are antioxidants that fight against certain cancers, preserve heart health, eye health, and help to keep your immune system in check.
If you’re asking why kale is bitter tasting, it is because it contains a chemical compound known as glucosinolates.
Kale is a members of the Brassica family, also known as cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, spinach, among many others.
Read more here about Taming the Flavor of Bitter Greens
Glucosinolates are sulfur-containing compounds that are broken down into compounds called metabolites.
Metabolites are naturally occurring substances in nature that affect the pace of your bodies metabolism and trigger specific enzymatic reactions to help protect your cells from damage. Including the damage that leads to cancer (Source).
Glucosinolates found in butter tasting cruciferous vegetables have a antibiotic like effect helping to ward off bacterial, viral, and fungal infection in the intestines and other parts of the body.
Eat More Apples
You know the saying, “An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away.” And that just could be true.
Apples are a good source of fiber and vitamin-C.
They also contain polyphenols, which have numerous health benefits.
Such preventing some cancers, promotes heart health, lowers blood pressure and so much more (Source).
Cider Braised Chicken With Apples and Kale
2 bunches kale
4 slices thick cut bacon
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
1 large shallot clove, diced
1 small apple, cored and sliced
1 1⁄2 cups apple cider or juice, not spiced
1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
1 tablespoon thyme, fresh or dried
Preheat oven to 425° F.
Remove stems from washed kale and set aside. Tear kale leaves into bite-sized pieces. Slice the ends off of kale stems and thinly slice.
In a large oven-safe Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat until crispy. Remove bacon and drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Drain all but about 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat from the skillet, leaving enough to lightly coat the bottom of the pan.
In the same skillet, sear the chicken thighs, skin side down, until they easily release from the pan. Remove and set aside.
Add kale stems to the skillet, and cook for about 1 minute. Add the shallot and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the apples and kale, cover, and cook until kale is wilted and apples are slightly softened, 2-3 minutes. Remove from skillet with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Remove the skillet from heat, add cider, and scrape the bottom of the pan, releasing the browned bits. Add mustard and thyme and mix well.
Add kale mixture back to the skillet and mix to coat in the cider sauce. Crumble the bacon, mix in, and top with the chicken, skin side up.
Roast in the oven, uncovered, until an instant read thermometer in the chicken reads 165-175° F, about 20 minutes.
Remove from oven, plate and serve.
Try this recipe with kale: Red Kale Cannellini Beans and Chorizo Soup.
Or how about this Salad recipe with apples: Golden Beets Fennel and Green Apple Slaw
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- Warm Brussels Sprouts & Dilled Potato Salad
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- Chicken Sausage & Tortellini Soup
- Honey Roasted Nuts
