Today was a beautiful sunny day, and it was a treat to cook dinner with the windows open. I made mushroom herb risotto (Trader Joe's sells a mix) and roasted 3 chicken thighs which I served over an olive tapenade tomato sauce.
Roasted chicken thighs:
Preheat oven t0 450. Add chicken thighs to a glass casserole dish. Drizzle a little olive oil over the thighs, the juice from 1 lemon, a good sprinkle of celery salt and a pinch of black pepper. I also added a tablespoon of sun-dried tomato paste and a tablespoon of olive tapenade. Add these over the chicken and bake for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is crisp and cooked through.
While the chicken baked, I made a simple and delicious sauce that I used as a bed for both the risotto and chicken.
Add 1 C. of tomato sauce to a pan, add 1/4 C. of olive tapenade and cook until tomato sauce thickens up, about 5-6 minutes.
Ladle the sauce onto the plate, then add a chicken thigh and a serving of risotto. We had a simple salad of sliced tomatoes and garbanzo beans with some chopped fresh mint, olive oil and lemon juice. The kids wouldn't touch the salad, but we loved it!
