Chicken and Noodles Skillet



I can't help but think that the chicken thigh is the most useful substantial ingredient for any home cook.

Add a layer of spice, set over oil for fourteen minutes, maybe a few chips of ham or bacon and a side of frozen green beans and you have a meal.  Skip the seasoning and let simmer in BBQ sauce would be just fine.  As you read through so many of the 'convenient cooking' books, like the Big Book of Weeknight Dinners, anywhere you see a recipe that asks for chicken, I've found just make it thighs instead, and the recipe should work fine.  This simple soup skillet

happens to ask for cut up chicken breasts, but because I swapped for thigh meat, it stayed moist throughout the various cooking stages: cook the thighs and onions first and cut-up into chunks, then add your liquids (broth and cream of chicken soup), carrots, broccoli, and a big batch of egg noodles.  Because much of the base ingredients are purposefully low on salt, it's possible that plenty of extra added salt is necessary to drive those noodles, veggies and soup.  I continued to add water from the soup can as the dish simmered so nothing dried.  Noodles can take a lot of moisture up until the point of fully cooked but seasoning then has to be re-adjusted.  Another time, I could see pioneering this simple recipe by adding bits of bacon, another veggie of choice, maybe edamame, corn, peas, or parmesan cheese to finish.