Chicken in Orange Sauce with Tomato-Squash Strata

I put together a quick baked Chicken in Orange Sauce the other day before I layed down to take a nap before work. I needed something something that would literally cook all by itself so I could could awaken to a hot meal, spend that quality 15-20 minutes with the family, and still get to work on time. So this is a chicken dish you can do in your sleep!

I made two casseroles, one with chicken and one with vegetables. They each required different cooking times, but they would be okay cooking at the same temperature. My chicken dish was simply chicken thighs coated in avocado oil, drizzled with orange juice and seasoned with garlic salt and black pepper. I put the orange rinds in with the chicken and sprinkled it with chopped green onions. I covered the dish with foil and put it into the frig until baking time. This one would need about an hour of baking.

Then I assembled the vegetable casserole. It couldn't get any easier...I just chopped onions to cover the bottom of the square baking dish, drizzled in avocado oil and then layered rows of alternating zucchini, tomato and yellow squash that all came in the box from SLO Veg. More avocado oil drizzled on top, then seasonings: coarse salt, fresh ground black pepper and dried thyme and marjoram. A handful of parmesan cheese on top completed the prep, then the dish was covered and into the frig it went. 

I let my husband have the honors of putting the chicken in the oven to bake about two hours before I needed to leave for work. I asked him to put the vegetable casserole in 30 minutes after the chicken. He is pretty good at following directions, so I had complete confidence in him. When I woke up, I checked on the progress. The dishes just needed some browning, so I removed the foil covers and cranked the oven temp up to 375° for 15 more minutes. During that time I showered and got dressed for work. Then we sat down together and ate dinner and chatted before I had to leave. The dishes, of course, were left for Lee to take care of.  With a full stomach, he didn't mind a bit. 

Recipe:

4 chicken thighs or breasts

Avocado or olive oil

Juice from 2 oranges

garlic salt and fresh ground black pepper

Thyme and marjoram

Put chicken in a glass baking dish and coat with oil. Squeeze orange juice all over chicken. Season with salt, pepper, thyme and marjoram. Cover with foil and bake for one hour at 350°. Remove foil and increase oven temperature to 375°. Bake for 15 more minutes until chicken is browned.

Now what? Ukrainian Feast!

So at the end of the week, I still have some purple kale, some bok choy, cilantro, the golden beets, one Fuji apple, half of a red onion and a couple of oranges, all from the SLO Veg box. I used the last of the curly lettuce today in our lunches, and the tangerines have been good lunch snacks all week. I have plans for some of it for my Sunday Ukrainian dinner. Its a celebration of my dear mother's Ukrainian roots.

The beets and onion will go into the Borscht. I still have some baby carrots, so I am okay there. I used all my red potatoes in a salad earlier this week, so I will need to augment from the grocery store as I need more potatoes for my perogies (varenyky). More onion, too. Ukrainian veggies consist mainly of potatoes, cabbage, mushrooms and onions. I plan to make three fillings for the perogies: sauerkraut, salmon, and potato. I might add some kale to the salmon mixture...that would be interesting. I could put some into the Borscht, also. Red beets are standard for borscht, so this one will just be a golden version. Maybe if its not so pink, more of my family will like it!

I am going to make a sort of compote out of the oranges to serve with the honey cake (Medinyk) that I have already baked. I also plan to make that Apple Ambrosia recipe I posted up earlier and see how my family likes it.

So my grocery shopping list includes apples, onions, red potatoes, mushrooms, cabbage...and sour cream!