One Dish Dinner: Chicken, Fennel and Cannellini Beans

Who doesn't love a one-dish wonder?

Chicken casserole

I have been eating a lot of chicken lately - I am not exactly sure why...but I'm on chicken dish number 3 for the week and I'm not actually bored. I am pushing myself to find the versatility in this little bird and so far I'm succeeding (thankfully), BUT it's not exactly difficult...Chicken is the epitome of...well...versatility. It's a blank canvas, you can't really go wrong, just pick a style (Italian, Asian, French etc) or flavour combinations that you know work well and just roll with it...

Lemon, thyme and green olive chicken casserole

Ingrdients: (serves 4)

• 8 chicken pieces (skin on, bone in)
• olive oil for frying
• 1/2 cup chicken stock (you can dissolve 1/2 a stock cube in hot water if you like)
• 2 lemons
• 1 packet green olives (drained, about 20)
• a few sprigs thyme (about 5)
• salt and pepper
• 3 tbs sour cream/creme fraiche 
• couscous/polenta to serve

Method:

Preheat oven to 180*C
Pour a little olive oil into a non-stick frying pan and place it on med-high heat. Season the chicken with a little salt before browning in the pan on all sides (about 8 min).
Remove from the pan and place into a medium-sized casserole dish, pour over stock, scatter over the olives, squeeze over juice from 2 lemons and drop the lemons into the dish, sprinkle over thyme and add a dash of pepper.
Cover with foil/lid and bake for 45 min, remove foil/lid and bake for a further 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and stir through the creme fraiche/sour cream.
Serve with couscous/polenta.

Mediterranean Chicken Casserole

This is my fail-safe, when in doubt, easy to do, always delicious (you get the point) mid-week dinner: Mediterranean Chicken casserole. It takes about 10 minutes to put together and is a one-pot wonder. Perfect with couscous or mash, what more could you ask for?

Mediterranean Chicken Casserole

Ingredients: (serves 4)

• 8 chicken thighs
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 packet/20 Calamata olives (stoned)
• 2 red onions
• 1 tin tomatoes
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 tbs sugar
• 6 sprigs rosemary
• salt and pepper
• couscous/mashed potato to serve

Method:

• Preheat oven to 190*C
• Put a non-stick pan on med-high heat and fry the thighs, in batches, skin-side down for 3-4 minutes until nicely browned. Remove and pop into a casserole dish.
• Thinly slice garlic, cut onions into 8ths and mix together with olives, tinned tomato, wine, sugar and rosemary and pour over chicken. Grind over a little of salt and pepper and cover with foil/lid.
• Put in the oven for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for a further 45 minutes.
• Serve with couscous/ mash.
• Easy peasy.