Cooking for One?

This one goes out to all my single friends who love to cook, but find themselves running out of freezer bags quickly! If you know what I mean, I am talking to you. You find an awesome recipe, but it almost always serves 4-8 so you either do way too much math figuring out how to make a single serving size, you bore yourself eating the same thing 4-5 days in a row, you waste lots of food, or you run out of freezer space after filling it with leftovers. Cooking is great, but these are the challenges we proud independent singles face! Let me just add, I’d never thought I’d be cooking as much as I have lately thanks to this quarantine!

My dear friend, Stephani Womack is a wizard in the kitchen! Her Instagram always has me salivating with beautiful colors, unique flavor combinations, and fresh ideas on traditional recipes. I reached out to her for a great recipe for one and was not disappointed.

Seared Chicken Thighs & Roasted Veggies (for one, or more)

What you need

• 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• 1 sweet potato, diced
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1/2 green pepper, sliced
• 3 mini sweet peppers, sliced
• 15 asparagus spears
• 3 Tbsp avocado or olive oil
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 2 1/4 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp rosemary
• ***This recipe is gluten AND dairy free***

What to do?

• Preheat oven to 400*
• In a medium-sized bowl, season the diced sweet potato with the ½ Tbsp of oil, cumin, chili powder, ¼ tsp or paprika, ¼ tsp of salt, ¼ tsp of garlic, and ¼ tsp of black pepper, mix to coat evenly. Place on one section of a large baking sheet.

• Add chopped carrots to the same bowl and season with ¼ Tbsp oil, ¼ tsp of salt and pepper, and rosemary. Add to the baking sheet.
• In the same bowl, add the diced red potato and season with ¼ Tbsp oil, ¼ tsp of salt and pepper, and ¼ tsp of garlic powder. Add to the baking sheet and put the baking sheet in the oven.
• While those are baking, add 1 Tbsp of oil to a cast-iron skillet and heat on medium on the stove.
• Season the chicken with ½ tsp or paprika, ¼ tsp of salt and pepper on both sides. Paprika should go directly on the skin and salt and pepper after.

• When the oil is smoking, add the chicken and sear for 6 minutes. Flip the chicken over and sear for an additional 6 minutes.

• While chicken is searing, prepare the rest of the vegetables. Combine onion, peppers, and asparagus in the medium bowl. Season with remaining oil, salt, pepper, and garlic. 
• Remove large baking sheet from the oven and add remaining vegetables. 

• Add both chicken in the skillet and baking sheet back to the oven and bake for an additional 20 – 25 minutes, until the chicken has an inner temperature of 165*.
• While baking, enjoy some wine.

• When chicken has reached an inner temperature of 165*, remove from oven, leave the veggies in to continue baking.
• Spoon the juice from the skillet over the chicken for 5 minutes. This will make it even more juicy and flavorful.

• Remove the vegetables from the oven, plate, and enjoy! 

This recipe is enough food for about one meal of leftovers. Just enough for lunch the next day! Stephani recommends reheating in a cast-iron skillet in the oven at 325* for 10 to 15 minutes until warmed for best results, but an office microwave will do the trick as well!

The beautiful and talented Stephani Womack has many more amazing and delish ideas. Follow her on Instagram @stejwomack to see more more cooking ideas and taste worthy photos!