So, I had some chicken thighs in my freezer, left over from the summer CSA... I make chicken quite often, but it's usually chicken breasts... To be honest, I find other parts (thighs, wings, whole bird) quite intimidating, but when a recipe sounds good (or when you need to use some chicken that you've had in the freezer since summer), you gotta go for it.

And I'm so glad I did! At first glance, this recipe sounds a little lackluster, but Ryan and I were both pleasantly surprised with the outcome.

(Ryan actually said, "white beans?" in one of those "What are you trying to feed me?" voices... And later said, "Wow, this is good! And went back for seconds... Oh, and Jett liked it, but he didn't love it, which I partially blame on his tummy just trying to get back in the game after being a little ill last weekend.

The bottom line is that this is a very (very) easy and quite tasty recipe. For the effort it takes to prepare, you get a great return on investment, so to speak. LOL

So, here it is, recipe and photo from realsimple.com:

Chicken With White Beans and Tomatoes

Serves 4| Hands-On Time: 10m| Total Time: 50m

Ingredients

2 15.5-ounce cans cannellini beans, rinsed
1 pint grape tomatoes
4 sprigs fresh thyme
4 sprigs fresh oregano, plus leaves for garnish
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
kosher salt and black pepper
8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 3 pounds total)

Directions

Heat oven to 425° F. In a 9-by-13-inch (or some other large) baking dish, toss the beans and tomatoes with the thyme and oregano sprigs, garlic, red pepper, 1 tablespoon of the oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper.
Pat the chicken dry and place on top of the bean mixture, skin-side up. Rub with the remaining tablespoon of oil; season with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper.
Roast until the chicken is golden and cooked through, 35 to 45 minutes. Sprinkle with the oregano leaves.

By Vanessa Seder , January, 2011