Spanish Chicken & Potatoes

I am a pretty big fan of one-pot meals, where there is little assembly required. I decided to try out Spanish Chicken & Potatoes from Pinch of Yum. My kitchen laziness led to a few substitutions, but it turned out great! This was my first attempt at anything involving eggplant, so I was a little nervous about using it, but it was excellent in the sauce.

To make this, you will need:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 can of whole tomatoes
• 1 eggplant, peeled and chopped
• salt & pepper, to taste
• 4 chicken breasts (I used frozen)
• 10 baby potatoes, sliced
• 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/4 tsp ground mustard
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 3/4 cup uncooked rice

1. Cook the rice.
2. Mix spices together as a seasoning blend for the chicken.
3. Heat the oil in a big skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, tomatoes, & eggplant. Simmer until soft, stirring frequently (about 20 min).
4. Transfer mix to a food processor and blend. Add salt and pepper to taste (it will start out pretty bland and become delicious!)
5. In the same pan, add a little olive oil, chicken and potatoes. Sprinkle with half the spice mix and some salt and pepper. Cook for 15 minutes, then flip chicken, add remaining spices, & cook for another 15 minutes.
6. Add sauce back to pan, simmer until potatoes are fully cooked (chicken should be too!)
7. Top with parsley & serve with rice.

For leftovers, we just stirred the rice and parley into the sauce with the chicken, and I really recommend this. Rice is boring on its own. Make sure you don't hold back on the salt and pepper, it will be the difference between bland and amazing. At first I was disappointed, but the salt really enhances the flavour of the eggplant, and made it a dish I was proud of making. I couldn't resist topping it with a little Parmesan cheese, not sure that is in the 'Spanish' domain though. I will definitely be willing to dip my toe in the eggplant waters again in the future!