Skillet Chicken and Zucchini with Tomatillo and Poblano Salsa
Course: DinnerCuisine: MexicanDifficulty: Easy4
servings30
minutes40
minutesI wanted to make this recipe for several reasons. I had a lot of zucchini in my garden and had bought a large bag of poblano chiles at the Farmer’s Market. This recipe did not call for poblano’s but I tweaked the salsa so it was more flavorful and better texture. This dish turned out great. my family loved it. I served it with black beans, Mexican rice and warm tortillas. I made a crunchy salad as my daughter calls them with radicchio, romaine and cherry tomatoes. You can just make the salsa and use it as a salsa or even add ripe avocados to it to make a zesty quac.
Chicken
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, about 3 1/2lb, at room temperature
Kosher salt and fresh black pepper
2 Tablespoons canola oil
1 1/2 lbs zucchini, (3-4 zucchini) quartered lengthwise, then halved crosswise
- Salsa
1/4 cup fresh lime juice, from 2 limes
1 medium jalapeno, thinly sliced and seeded
1 bunch scallions, trimmed
1 cup fresh cilantro, rough cut
1 lb tomatillos, husks removed and rinsed
4-5 poblanos
2 tablespoons olive oil, if salsa it to thick
Salsa
- Preheat the oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with a couple pieces parchment. Place the scallions, poblanos, jalapeno, and tomatillos. Roast in the oven until vegetables start to char. As the various vegetables begin to char remove with tongs from the baking sheet. If needed, turn the heat up to 450 to char the poblanos. You want the skin to start to blacken. Once everything is starting to blacken, remove from oven. Place the poblanos in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap for 10 minutes, making sure it is air tight. Set Aside.
- Get out a blender or Vitamix and place the cilantro and lime juice in the blender. Add the scallions, tomatillos, and the jalapeno. When the 10 minutes is up, remove the plastic wrap and using gloves peel off the blackened skin and remove the seeds. Add the peppers to the blender. Pulse the salsa, so that everything is chopped up and it holds together. Do not over blend, you don’t want this to be a puree. Season with salt and pepper. If it is lacking flavor you can add lime zest and a touch of cumin.
- Lower oven temperature to 400. At this point, you can leave it or refrigerate it.
- Chicken
- Pat the chicken breasts all over to ensure they are dry. Season with salt and pepper.
- Heat oil in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the chicken, skin side down, and cook undisturbed until skin is golden brown, about 5-7 minutes. Flip and continue to cook another 5 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate.
- Remove the pan from the heat and add the zucchini and stir to coat in the chicken fat. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange zucchini in an even layer, some overlap is ok. Place the chicken on top of the zucchini, skin side up. Transfer to the oven and roast until chicken is cooked through about 15-20 minutes.
- Remove chicken from oven and transfer to a plate to rest for 5 minutes. Cover loosely with foil. If the zucchini need to be browned a bit, place back in the oven and turn the heat up to get the zucchini more done to your preference. I prefer to do this.
- Serve each breast on a plate with some of the zucchini, Mexican rice, black beans and spoon the salsa over all of it.
