12 Days of Holiday! Day 7: Festive Chicken Thighs, just right for easy Entertaining

It's Sunday & Day 7 of '12 Days of Holiday!' & on this beautiful day, I'm sharing a recipe perfect for a meal with friends & family that will help get everyone into the holiday spirit.  Chicken Thighs with Pomegranate Seeds, Seasonal Veggies & Challah bread.  It screams festive, is easy to put together & is mighty tasty.

This pretty dish is actually a take on a recipe that I told you about a few months ago when I was spending a month reviewing a cookbook from one of my favorite Cooking Channel personalities, Kelsey Nixon.  Her wonderful version featured red potatoes, carrots & baguette.  It's delicious & makes a wonderful Sunday supper.  You can see what I thought of the her book, Kitchen Confidence & the recipe for her Lemon Scented Chicken Thighs here.

Pomegranate & Roasted Fall Veggie Chicken Thighs 

with Challah Croutons

Adapted from Kelsey Nixon's Lemon-Scented Chicken Thighs recipe from “Kitchen Confidence: Essential Recipes and Tips That Will Help You Cook Anything” by Kelsey Nixon (Clarkson Potter, $19.99) 

1/2 challah loaf, torn into 1/2-inch cubes

1 1/2 lbs. fingeling potatoes, halved
1 small butternut squash, cubed

Avocado Oil

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 1.5lbs. total)

Sea salt & cracked black pepper

2 small onions, diced

6 garlic cloves, smashed

1 lemon, cut into wedges

Small bunch thyme sprigs, 1 sprig rosemary
1/4 c. pomegranate seeds

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Put the torn challah loaf on a parchment lined baking sheet & toast in the oven until slightly golden,   about 10 minutes.  Remove the bread cubes & let cool.  Leave the oven on & increase the temp to 425 degrees.

Place the potatoes & butternut squash in a dutch oven, cover with salted water & just bring to a boil.  Cook until just fork-tender, 10 minutes.  Drain the veggies & put back into the dutch oven to cool.

Set a large, heavy oven-proof skillet on the stovetop, set to high setting & coat pan with a tablespoon or two of avocado oil.  Sprinkle both sides of the chicken thighs with sea salt & freshly ground pepper.  Sear the chicken, skin side down, 4 to 5 minutes.  Turn the thighs & cook the other side for 2 minutes.  Remove the chicken from the pan & onto a separate plate.

Adding in more oil if needed, cook the onion until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Add garlic & cook for 1 minute.  Add potatoes & butternut squash, challah pieces, rosemary & thyme & lemon wedges.   Re-season everything with sea salt & cracked pepper.  Make sure that all of the veggies & bread cubes are tossed in the oil.  Nestle the chicken thighs back into the pan among the bread & veggies.

Roast the chicken, veggies & bread until the thighs are cooked through & reach 160 degrees, 20 - 25 minutes.  5 - 10 minutes before the cooking time has ended, sprinkle pomegranate seeds into the mixture.