[ferretgirl]

I bought some fresh bone-in chicken thighs, fresh veggies (carrots, celery, bell peppers), and brown rice (in-a-bag, so I don't burn it). I have sea salt, a peppercorn grinder, and olive oil. I can only use a skillet and microwave (no oven).

Any suggestions for mixing this into a healthly meal for the family? Not sure if I should boil the chicken or cut it up and fry in olive oil.. just not a very experienced cook. I'll have to cook the veggies separate from the chicken because the boys don't like them.. would I cook them in broth from boiling the chicken or use olive oil?

What would you suggest that will make an easy, tasty meal with the ingredients listed above?

I also have tilapia and pork chops for throughout the week and hopefully can pull together healthy meals with those meats as well.

Thank you~

[aneleh]

I would suggest roasting the chicken and vegetables. You can put them in separate pans if you want. Just season the drumsticks with salt and pepper, line a tray with foil and drizzle some olive oil on the pan and the drumsticks (you don't need much) and bake it in the oven at 350 degrees until it's cooked. Then you can put it on the highest rack and turn the broiler on for a few minutes. So yummy!

[aneleh]

I've never cooked celery and bell peppers before (other than in soup) so I'm not sure what to do with those. But carrots are nice steamed and then drizzled in a garlic/lemon juice mixture.

[ferretgirl]

Thank you for the tips, aneleh

[tommy]

Chicken thighs are better cooked well through so I would suggest braising them along with the vegetables like this:

Chop up your veggies (add a little salt and pepper now) and saute in just a little olive to release the flavors (till it smells really good but is not browning). Then add chicken thighs (I would pull the skin off and discard since it is not going to get crispy on the stove-top in a braise and wet skin is not so nice). Let them start to firm up and them add more salt and pepper and some liquid. You could use just water, and if you have it include some canned tomato sauce (even leftover spaghetti sauce) or juice like apple, or even a good quirt of mustard- just about half way up the level of the meat. cover and simmer on low checking occasionally to make sure not sticking (add more liquid if needed) until really tender. This should create a sauce for your brown rice also. If the kids won't eat the veggies just scrape them off before serving to them. Good luck. Let us know.