Chicken with Spinach and Mushrooms

End of January. The first month of the year always feels like a test run — you make resolutions in the abstract and then life hands you the actual conditions and you see what holds. I resolved to start the Vietnam research this year. I didn't tell anyone that. It's been in the back of my head since Huy died in 2014, and I've gotten close to pulling the trigger a few times and then backed off. Mai is eighty-three. The window is not infinite and I know it, even if I don't say it out loud.

I mentioned it casually to Linh on the phone this week. Not the trip specifically, just that I'd been thinking about it. She was quiet for a second and then said, "She'd never admit she wants to go." I said I knew. Linh said, "But she does." I said I knew that too. We didn't talk about it after that but we didn't need to.

Super Bowl is in two weeks. I have opinions about who's playing that I won't bore anyone with here because this is a food blog and not a sports blog, but I will say that I have already started planning the food. Super Bowl Sunday is a legitimate national holiday in my house. I don't care about the halftime show. I care about the spread on my kitchen island.

This week I finalized my nuoc cham glazed smoked chicken recipe after four test batches. The key turned out to be brushing the glaze on in the last thirty minutes of the smoke rather than the beginning — let the smoke do its work first, then the sweet-salty-tangy glaze caramelizes over the bark without burning. The result is a chicken thigh that tastes like it was invented by someone who grew up eating both Vietnamese street food and Texas BBQ at the same time. Which is exactly what happened.

Posted it to the blog Friday morning and it was shared over three hundred times by Sunday. That number still surprises me. I started this thing because Emma told me my cooking stories were worth writing down. I never expected anyone outside the family to care. But apparently other people also grew up straddling different food traditions and wondering why they had to choose. They don't have to choose. That's the whole point.

The nuoc cham glaze gets all the attention — and it should, because it’s the reason I spent four Saturdays standing over a smoker in January — but the dish I keep coming back to in between the test batches, the one that feeds me on a Tuesday when I’m thinking about Mai and Linh and a trip that hasn’t happened yet, is this chicken with spinach and mushrooms. It’s grounding in the way a good meal should be: nothing flashy, just everything working together. If Super Bowl Sunday is the show, this is the week that earns it.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 lbs total)
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
5 oz fresh baby spinach (about 4 packed cups)
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1/4 teaspoon dried)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Instructions

Season the chicken. Pat chicken thighs dry with paper towels. Season on both sides with 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and garlic powder. Let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes while you prep the remaining ingredients.
Sear skin-side down. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Place chicken thighs skin-side down and cook undisturbed for 7–8 minutes, until the skin is deep golden brown and releases easily from the pan. Flip and cook the other side for 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
Cook the mushrooms. Reduce heat to medium. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the same skillet. Add mushrooms in a single layer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5–6 minutes until browned and most of their liquid has evaporated. Season with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
Build the sauce base. Push mushrooms to the edges of the pan. Add butter to the center and let it melt, then add garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly, until fragrant. Pour in chicken broth and thyme, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
Return chicken and finish in oven. Preheat oven to 400°F if not already hot. Nestle chicken thighs back into the skillet skin-side up, resting on the mushrooms. Transfer skillet to the oven and roast for 18–20 minutes, until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F and the skin is crisp.
Wilt the spinach. Remove skillet from oven. Transfer chicken to a clean plate to rest. Place skillet back over medium heat and add spinach in two or three additions, stirring until just wilted, about 2 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and taste for seasoning.
Serve. Spoon spinach and mushrooms onto plates or a serving platter. Nestle chicken thighs on top, skin-side up. Spoon any pan juices over the top and serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Chicken with Spinach and Mushrooms — The Recipe That Taught Me I Don’t Have to Choose