chicken and rice

Chicken and rice always reminds me of the wee hours of the morning after weekend nights out in Brooklyn in my early twenties. After a night of partying, we would always crave chicken and rice, and the corner bodegas always had our backs with a hot takeout container of chicken and rice and hit the spot.

While I’m now less often shoveling spicy food from a plastic container into my mouth at 3 am, I still have the occasional craving for a hearty, flavorful bowl of chicken and rice. Except now, I can savor each bite in my sober state and actually appreciate the spices that make up this simple dish.

a hot bed of flavor

The basics of this recipe are, well, basic. To start, all you need is some rice (choose brown for the whole grains), shredded chicken, and a bunch of veggies. But what really sets this dish apart from your run-of-the-mill rice bowl is all of the flavor you can add to it. I didn’t even use a ton of spices – the next few ingredients I list are what hold the key to this intensely flavorful chicken and rice recipe.

Saffron threads Ahhh, saffron. This bright red Middle Eastern spice is so beautiful and an absolute delicacy to cook with. While the dried spice is red, it lends a bright yellow hue to your cooked dish. When cooking my rice, I added about 20 saffron threads to the water, giving the rice its ochre shade and resulting in a warm, earthy flavor. Though it’s easy to find saffron in your local grocery store, the price point tends to be pretty high. Luckily, a little bit goes a long way, and it’s totally worth the splurge!

Soppressata I bet you won’t find this ingredient in your everyday chicken and rice dish! This Italian dry salami is so delish and has a sweet yet spicy quality to it that’s simply irresistible. The seasoning used to make this salami – usually dried chili peppers, black peppercorns, and salt – along with the rich fat speckles, create such an intense flavor profile, that you hardly need to add additional spices to your dish

Kalamata olives Finally, to round out the flavor profile of this dish, a little bit of brine will do ya! Depending on how they’re stored, these olives will add a little citrus, vinegar, or oily flavor. I never rinse them for exactly this reason!

So now you see that with these amazing ingredients you don’t need any crazy spices or herbs. It’s part of what makes this recipe so satisfyingly simple!

⟶ the recipe

chicken and rice

ingredients

1 ½ cups chicken broth

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup brown rice

1 yellow onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 red bell pepper, chopped

¼ pitted kalamata olives, sliced

3 ounces Soppressata, sliced

20 saffron threads

Salt and pepper

Prep time

45 minutes

Cook time

30 minutes

Total time

1 hour 15 minutes

4 servings

instructions

Bring some water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add chicken breasts, and cook, until chicken is cooked completely through and no longer pink in the center. Remove chicken breasts and set aside.

Bring broth to a simmer in a medium saucepan, and stir in the rice. Add a pinch of salt, pepper, and saffron threads. Cover and reduce heat to low, cooking for about 20 minutes. Remove the rice from heat, and let it sit for about 5 more minutes. Uncover, fluff rice with a fork, and set aside.

While rice is cooking, preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat some olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, and add onion and garlic. Sauté until fragrant, and onion is golden. Add red bell pepper, and cook for about 5 minutes. Add Soppressata, and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Meanwhile shred chicken either using two forks or your hands (making sure the chicken is sufficiently cool before handling). Remove skillet from heat, and stir in the chicken and olives. Add in the cooked rice, and stir, flattening the mixture with a spatula.

Bake the skillet mixture in the oven for about 10 minutes or until rice is beginning to crisp around the edges.