Balsamic Orange Chicken

I apologize that nothing new has been posted in a while. A week ago I ate some bad Subway, which caused me only to be able to eat plain pasta for a few days while my stomach recovered. (Funny story, Subway was calling my frantically after I sent them an email informing them that their food had made me sick...they believed that I was suing them!) As I was recovering from the stomach thing, a cold hit me hard and I was in and out of commission for the week. But when I finally began to feel better, I went over Tom's and we cooked a really simple and really yummy dinner. I believe we found the recipe in his mom's Everyday Food: Great Food Fast magazine, but we modified it a lot.

1 1/2 lb chicken thighs

1 whole orange, sliced

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

olive oil 

the spices we added without measuring:

chili powder

red pepper flakes

brown sugar

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. After rubbing all desired spices on the chicken thighs, place them on the pan and cook until the cooked side is brown, about 5 minutes. (If you are using chicken thighs with bones and skin, cook them skin side down. Also, depending on whether or not your chicken has bone will affect the speed at which it cooks. Boneless will cook faster.) Transfer the chicken to a bake pan and put in the over for about 5 more minutes, until the chicken has cooked all the way through. Meanwhile, add the balsamic vinegar and orange to the original pan, scraping the bottom of the pan for crusty leftovers and mix together. Cook until the oranges begin to soften. Then return the chicken to the pan, and stir the sauce with the chicken until spread even.    

I'd just like to say, I love chicken thighs. They are my favorite part of a chicken. I feel like chicken thighs aren't really advertised that much, but the meat is always so soft! The reason I really wanted to try this recipe is that I remember my dad cooking chicken thighs on the grill when I was a kid and absolutely loving them, and this was a time in my life where it was difficult to get me to eat anything, let alone meat. I was surprised that with so few ingredients how well the recipe came out. I squeezed my oranges onto my chicken because I didn't think the orange flavor got into the sauce that well. Also, don't be shy on the spices, because without them this recipe is relatively bland. A lot of the balsamic taste gets cooked away. Hope you enjoy!