Fall Harvest Skillet

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My Fall Harvest Skillet makes its way into my meal plans frequently in the fall, and even in the winter.  It is the perfect combination of those vegetables that make me think of the fall like sweet potatoes and crunchy Granny Smith apples.  Oh, and did I mention the bacon?  This is a recipe you will be asking for over and over again.

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Fall Harvest Skillet

The vegetables in this dish just scream fall!  Apples, onions, and sweet potatoes come together for a mouth-water one pan meal.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Diet Diabetic, Gluten Free, Halal, Low Calorie, Low Fat, Low Lactose, Low Salt

Keyword Clean Eating, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Nut Free, Whole30, WW Friendly

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 4

Calories 525kcal

Equipment

• large skillet

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lbs. chicken breast cut into 1/2" cubes
• 4 slices thick cut bacon
• 12 oz Brussel Sprouts trimmed and quartered
• 1 medium sweet potato peeled and cu into 1/2" cubes
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 2 apples, I like Granny Smith peeled, cored, and cubed
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup broth divided
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Heat the olive oil in a large, nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium high.
• Season the chicken with salt and pepper.  Add to skillet and cook until lightly browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Transfer to plate.
• Reduce skillet heat to medium low. Add the chopped bacon and cook until crisp and brown, about 8 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate
• Discard all but 1 1/2 tablespoons bacon fat from the pan and increase heat back to medium high. 
• Add Brussels sprouts, sweet potato, and onion to skillet.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender and the onions are beginning to look translucent, about 10 minutes.
• Stir in the apples, garlic, thyme, and cinnamon. Cook 30 seconds, then pour in 1/2 cup of the broth. Bring to a boil and cook until evaporated, about 2 minutes.
• Return chicken to the skillet with remaining chicken broth.  Cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.
• Transfer to serving dish.  Sprinkle bacon on top of chicken and vegetables.  Serve hot.

Notes

This recipe is 6 Green, 4 Blue, and 3 Purple WW Points.

Bacon often has additives and sugar.  Check ingredients if following Whole30 or similar clean eating program.

Omit onions for nightshade free version,

Jump to nutritional information

Fall flavors and the WW Purple Plan

Last week I was in a meeting with some fellow former WW members.  Our former leader created her own support group that meets now via Zoom thanks to Covid.  As we were comparing various plans for WW and ITrackBites, someone mentioned that they have no idea how someone could follow the WW purple plan.

Let me back up here, for those that don’t follow WW or similar plans.  On WW, or the ITrackBites plan that mimic WW, each food has a points value, and each day you are supposed to eat a certain amount of points worth of food.  Right now, WW has three plans – green, blue, and purple.  The points formula is the same for all of the plans.  However, each plan has a certain amount of “zero-point foods.”  These are foods that, despite their calories, fat, carb, etc content, are 0 points. 

The more points you get on your plan, the less zero-point food are available to you.  It doesn’t mean you can’t eat these foods – any WW will tell you that nothing is off limits – but you need to use your points to eat them.  Green plan followers get the most points, but only get non-starchy vegetables and most fruits for zero points.  Blue followers get less points, but get some starchy vegetables, like corn; legumes, and lean proteins for zero-points.

Then, we get to purple!  Oh purple, with your free healthy carbs, whole wheat grain rice and oats, and your starchy vegetables, oh this plan was made for me!  At least this for part of the year.

Back to the meeting . . . a member mentioned they didn’t see how someone could work the purple plan.  Most people when reviewing the plan go straight to the grain portion of the plan – how can you lose while eating pasta, rice, and potatoes?  Well, I did!  Ok, so I did while following and coming off Whole30, which meant that the grains and the fat-free dairy, also part of the plan, are out.  So yes, if your plan includes a lot zero-point food you won’t eat anyway, this plan can work.

So why do purple?  The potatoes!  When I cut out foods like pasta, I still need carbohydrates to function.  Hey, same goes for you!  I love potatoes, especially sweet potatoes, and I find I tend to eat more of them in the winter, so when the weather changes, my plan changes.  Yes, you can do that, change plans.  I change mind seasonally because how I eat changes seasonally, and I find purple works better for me in the colder months (the warmer months I’m usually on blue).

So when it comes to potatoes, of course you can bake them, or mash them, or fry them (but then they can gain points), but what I like to do is add them to skillets.  Like this Fall Harvest Skillet which celebrates potatoes, and also some of my other favorite fall flavors like apples and Brussel sprouts.

Lets get cooking our Fall Harvest Skillet!

Get started by gathering your ingredients.  Start by cutting your meat and vegetables as directed.  There’s actually a lot of time in between adding ingredients, so you can chop ingredients as you go, just remember the order – chicken, bacon, sprouts, potato, onion, apple.  I like to have the meat done and the cutting board and knives clean before starting the cooking.  I have enough time in between steps to chop my vegetables.  Of course, if you are likely to be distracted by children, roommates, spouses, or pets, best to have as much done before turning the stove on as you can. 

As you chop, make sure the items are cut into small pieces, especially the chicken.  The larger the pieces, the longer everything will take to cook.  You will want the chicken to be cut into pieces all roughly the same size, to ensure they cook evenly.

Get a large skillet or cast-iron pan.  You’ll probably notice from the pictures I started with the cast iron, and realized mine would not be big enough so I switched to a larger skillet. It made for a little more clean up, but much better cooking. Heat the oil over medium high heat.  While the oil is warming, sprinkle salt and pepper over the chicken to taste.  Once the oil is warm, add the chicken to the skillet.  Cook until the chicken is cooked through.  If the pieces are about ½” inch cubes, it should take about five minutes.  Stir occasionally to make sure the pieces are cooked evenly.  Once the chicken has cooked through, remove the meat from the skillet to a plate.  Cover the chicken to keep warm. 

Reduce the heat under the skillet and add the chopped bacon.  Allow the bacon to cook until It is crispy and brown.  This will probably take about eight minutes, depending on the thickness of the bacon.  In the meantime, enjoy the sizzle, enjoy them smell of that wonderful bacon.  I usually do use thick cut bacon for this recipe.  This recipe is low in points, so I can splurge and take the points from the bacon fat.  If you want to save some points by using turkey bacon you can, but you will probably want to add a little more oil back into the pan before adding the vegetables – why not let bacon do double duty?

Sadly, someone (and I’m not saying who) decided to eat the last of the thick cut bacon for breakfast this morning. Fortunately, I had some turkey bacon in the fridge, so I didn’t have to go baconless. That would have been a real tragedy.

While the bacon is cooking, if you haven’t already, finish chopping your vegetables and the apple, and gathering your spices.  Once the bacon is done, use a slotted spoon to remove it from the skillet and place it on a paper towel to drain.  Drain some of the bacon grease from the pan, but leave about a tablespoon and a half in the pan, enough for a nice coating to cook the vegetables in.

Turn up the heat!

Yup, time to turn up the heat!  Put the skillet back on the burner and turn it back up to medium high.  Add your firmer vegetables to the skillet – Brussel sprouts, sweet potato, and onion.  In other words, we’re getting into the harvest part of the fall harvest skillet.  Stir and allow the bacon grease to coat your vegetables.  Allow the vegetables to cook, stirring occasionally until the sprouts have a crispy-tender texture, and the onions start to become translucent.  This should take about 10 minutes. 

If you haven’t already, chop your apples and measure out your seasonings while the vegetables are cooking.  I am using Granny Smith for this recipe.  Why?  Because Granny Smith apples are my favorite!  No seriously, they are.  I love the crunch and the tartness of the Granny Smith.  The firmness of these apples makes them a great candidate for cooking.  If Granny Smiths are too tart, look for other firmer apples that will hold up while cooking like Honeycrips or Cortland. 

Once the vegetables have reached that tender crisp consistency, add in your apples, garlic, thyme, and cinnamon. Stir the apples into the vegetables until everything is well combined.  Allow the mix to cook for about 30 seconds and then add half of the broth.  Bring the mix to a boil and allow the broth to evaporate.  

Return the chicken to the pan.  Stir to combine.  Add the final half cup of chicken broth to the skillet.  Keep the skillet on the burner until the chicken has warmed through. If using a serving dish, transfer the mix to the dish, otherwise serve directly from the skillet.  This is one of the reasons I love my cast-iron skillet so much – it’s not only a fantastic piece of cookware, it looks great on the kitchen table as well!  Sprinkle the bacon crumbles on the dish and serve hot. 

Time saving tip – the bacon wave!

Ok, so I’m going to make a confession here.  I have a bacon wave.  Yes, that plastic contraption they sell on TV and in the As Seen on TV stores in the mall.  You put the pieces of bacon in the slots and stick it in the microwave.  The bacon cooks, and the grease drips into the bottom of the container.  And I love it!  The bacon is crispy and crunchy just the way I like it.  It’s faster than the stove top and the oven, and the grease has drained off. 

So, if you have a bacon wave, here’s a slight change to how you cook your fall harvest skillet.  Cook the bacon in the bacon wave first.  Obviously, don’t chop it, just cook it as you normally would.  Warm the skillet, but don’t add oil as the bacon is cooking.  When the bacon is done, remove it from the bacon wave and pour some of the grease into the pan to cook the chicken.  When the chicken is done, remove it from the skillet and set aside.  Pour a little additional grease into the pan and then continue with the vegetables.  While the chicken and vegetables are cooking, allow the bacon to cool and then crumble it.  Sprinkle the bacon crumbles over the skillet just before serving.

Need More Skillets?

Need more skillets?  Why not?  They’re great additions to your weekly meal plan.  One knife, one cutting board, one pan/serving this!  Check out some of my other skillets like Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Skillet or Pulled Pork Hash. Need more fall flavors? Try Butternut Chorizo Chili or Stuffed Acorn Squash.

I love including one pot dinners like this.  Even in times of Covid when I’m home all the time, I don’t always have time to make elaborate dinners, and I don’t really want to every night.  Skillets are great ways to make a wonderful meal with little prep, little cook time, and little clean up.  That’s why they are frequently included in our meal plans!  Have you seen them?  Check them out in our store, or sign up for our mailing list to get a free mini-meal plan.

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