Prepare the uncooked chicken by seasoning with salt and pepper or your favorite seasoning mix.

Place the olive oil in a cast iron skillet. Add the onion and jalapeño and brown for 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the seasoned chicken thighs, placing them skin side down.* Cover and simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes.

Remove cover from pan and turn the chicken pieces over. Allow the chicken to cook another 5 to 8 minutes until an inserted meat thermometer reads 165° F (74° C). Remove from heat.

Serve with Creamy Garlic Cilantro Ranch Dressing and a green salad.

Makes about 2 cups

Place tofu, garlic, nutritional yeast, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper and onion powder in the container of a blender and blend until smooth. Stir in chopped cilantro.

*Chicken Cooking Tip from Melissa: You have two options when cooking this chicken: uncover or cover with a lid. I rarely cover my iron skillet when I pan sear chicken. Adding the cover turns the iron skillet into a steamer, and the resulting texture of the chicken skin is more tender. When cooking without a lid, the pan searing dehydrates the chicken skin, giving it a crispy, bacon-like texture, my personal fave.

The problem with not using a lid is that the grease particles splatter and cooking aromas float throughout your house and linger. Over my kitchen stove, there is an extractor fan the size of a Volkswagen, so I never worry about the scent of cooked chicken haunting my living room. So, if you want to reduce aromas and splatter, and to achieve tender chicken skin, cover the cooking chicken. For crispier chicken skin, follow the same cooking directions without covering the pan, but make sure to turn on the stove extractor fan.

If, for dietary or other reasons, you need to remove the chicken skin before cooking, opt for the covered pan method to keep the chicken juicy.