Chicken in a cast iron skillet

Chicken and vegetables made in cast iron skillet with recipe I saw on NBC's "Today Show."

I am not a fan of cooking shows. Actually, I watch very little TV, although I usually catch bits of NBC’s “Today Show” in the morning when I’m working out or getting dressed for work. They had a good segment a couple of weeks ago on cooking with a cast iron skillet.

I love my cast iron skillet. I love it partly because it was free. I got it with “mileage” or points built up by using my credit card (which I pay off each month, so thank you, my wonderful bank!). I also love it because it can go from the stove top into the oven, thus saving me from having to use more than one pan and doing more dishes.

The chicken recipe was easy. Essentially, you brown some chicken thighs on the stove top and then remove them from the pan. Add some vegetables and let them cook a little. I used onion, potatoes and butternut squash, while the TV version used onion, potatoes and carrots. Add some rosemary, and then lay some sliced lemons on top of the vegetables. Place the chicken on top, and then put the whole thing into an oven heated to 425 degrees  for about 15 minutes.

You can easily change this up. On TV, Kelsey Nixon used garlic, thyme and chunks of toasted bread. I’ll probably use parsnips the next time I make it because I have some I need to use. It’s a good method for making the most of what you have on hand. Liquid from the vegetables and fat from the chicken cook down into a kind of gravy, so the meal tastes like it was a lot of work even though it wasn’t.