Nutrition Transitions: Artichoke Chicken and Potato, Squash and Goat Cheese Gratin

Sundays are for cookin' in my house. I normally don't get home until between 5:30 and 8 pm during the work week, so if I want to try a more time-consuming recipe I love to do it on Sunday afternoons. It makes for great leftovers all week too!

I saw this Artichoke Chicken recipe on The Chew, a great daytime cooking show hosted by chefs, food lovers, and quirky personalities. Check it out on ABC if you haven't before - I watch it when I come home for lunch (my office is 3 miles away). It intrigued me for two reasons: 1) it only requires one baking dish (or Dutch oven); and 2) it won a cook-off hosted on the show. OK, a third reason: it's really healthy and really delicious!

A coworker gave me some beautiful yellow squash from his friend's garden, so I wanted to experiment with a new recipe for squash as well. Five minutes of internet searching gave me this fantastic Potato, Squash and Goat Cheese Gratin from the Kitchn. I bought potatoes from the North Scottsdale Farmers' Market and used fresh organic basil, goat cheese, and parmesan cheese from Whole Foods. Served with a spinach and avocado salad, this meal was a hit with the boys. It's flavorful and easy - all you need is some time to cook it!

I doubled the potato gratin because I had so much squash and cooked it at 350 instead of 400 so it could go in with the chicken, which required 90 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees. Once the chicken was done, I cranked the oven to 425 and cooked the potatoes until they were soft, then removed the foil for an additional ten minutes. The potatoes ended up taking almost 2 hours because they had to cook at a lower temp and there were so many of them with a doubled recipe, but it was well worth it. I had accounted for about 2 hours of cooking time anyway; however, I wouldn't recommend making these recipes when you're pressed for time!

I did forget one step - pouring the milk over the potatoes - but we didn't miss it!

Artichoke Chicken

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

3 1/2-4 pound chicken legs and thighs

1 cup artichoke hearts (halved)

1 medium onion (cut into chunks - to match the artichokes)

1 pound white button mushrooms (halved or quartered)

2 tablespoons brown mustard

1 clove garlic (minced)

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar because I was out of red wine vinegar)

1/4 cup red wine

1/4 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper (to taste)

Instructions:

Place chicken, skin side up, in a baking pan.

Distribute onion, artichoke and mushrooms over the top.

Combine olive oil, mustard, red wine, red wine vinegar, garlic, dried spices, salt and pepper and pour over the chicken.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours, basting every half hour. Yum, right?

Potato, Squash and Goat Cheese Gratin

Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 medium yellow squash
4 small to medium red potatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 ounces goat cheese
salt and pepper
1/4 cup whole milk
1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon thinly sliced basil, optional

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400°F. (Again, you can cook at 350 if you make it with the chicken - it just takes longer to cook.)

Use a mandoline or chef's knife to slice the squash and potatoes into very, very thin slices, 1/8-inch or less. Toss the sliced vegetables with the olive oil in a large bowl.

Pour a small drizzle of olive oil in a casserole dish (around 8 or 9 inches square) and spread it around the bottom and sides. Place 1/3 of the squash and potato slices in the bottom of the dish—no need to layer them squash-potato-squash-etc.—then season with salt and pepper. Top with half of the goat cheese, scattered evenly in large chunks.

Repeat with another 1/3 of the vegetables, seasoning again with salt and pepper and topping with the other 1/2 of the goat cheese. Finish by layering on the final 1/3 of the vegetables and seasoning with salt and pepper. Below is the top layer before I added the cheese:

Pour the milk over the entire dish. Top with the parmesan cheese. Bake, covered, for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake 15 more minutes, until the top browns.