You should try this not-so-traditional chicken and rice recipe at home

Cooking can be a bit demanding, especially if you have a family of four or more. Demanding because it’s difficult to keep up with originality and because pleasing more than two people at the same time is almost a fantasy. Moreover, the Internet is full of pages that encourage you to try out new and exotic recipes, pretty much like traveling the world with a fork. But let’s face it, that might be fun when you have the tools, the time and the energy to do it.

We could spend hours talking about how cuisines all over the world influence one another and how similar or different they are, but this is not about the origins. Or maybe it is since, in order to break the rules, we need to know where the rules come from. Wouldn’t it be the perfect scenario? Turning a traditional dish into something more innovative or at least not so boring, not so common.

Tradition indeed

We are all pretty familiar with this dish, no matter what cooking and lifestyle website you enter, you’ll find many chicken and rice recipes waiting for you. You probably know it by heart and you don’t need further instructions to get a perfect version of it. It’s healthy, it’s highly nutritional as you can add vegetables to it and it’s one of the easiest dishes to make.

Usually, you would probably use the stove, a couple of pans and even consider frying the chicken up. But as previously discussed, today we’re trying to give tradition a good stir to turn it into a whole new different thing.

In with the new

You’ll keep it mouthwatering, your family will still love you and you’ll definitely enjoy the meal. Mostly you, because you won’t have to worry about that dirty frying pan and the remaining oil you never know what to do with. This time, you’ll use your oven! That’s right, here’s the twist: traditional chicken and rice will become baked chicken and rice.

Baking food is definitely a healthier and cleaner option so, why not give this version of a classic meal a go?

Baked chicken and rice:

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken thighs.
2 cups of rice.
4 cups of chicken broth.
Mushrooms.
3 cloves of garlic.
Butter.
Oregano.
Salt.
Black pepper.
Paprika.
Chicken-flavor powder.
Garlic powder.
Onion powder.
Thyme.
Parsley.

Preparation:

In a big bowl, place the boneless thighs you’ll want to make and get everything ready to season them. Keep the skin. Pour some olive all over them. You can use some chicken-flavor seasoning. Add some black pepper, salt, parsley, oregano and thyme. Adding some optional garlic and onion powder could be done in this step.
Once you add all the ingredients, use your hand to get the thighs coated on all the seasonings. Give everything a good mix and make sure all the pieces are well soaked in the seasoning sauce.
Preheat your oven to a high temperature. Take the chicken thighs to a roaster, place them separately with the skin facing down and take the roaster to the oven. Let the chicken cook for about 45 minutes. After that time, take it out and lip the pieces over.
In a different oven plate, pour two cups of rice, four cups of chicken broth, three tablespoons of butter and any seasoning you like. You might include some paprika to give the meal a nice orange color. Blend everything together and cover the plate up with some foil paper.
Take the plate to the oven and bake it together with the chicken.
In the meantime, take a skillet and melt two tablespoons of butter. Don’t let the butter burn, keep the heat to a medium. Add some previously chopped cloves of garlic and add some previously washed and halved mushrooms. Season with some black pepper (better if freshly ground) and salt and mix thoroughly.
Chop some green onions and add it to the skillet.
Make sure you turn the chicken thighs over after 45 minutes have passed and let the chicken cook until the skin is crispy and brown.
Take the rice out, remove the foil and check if it’s fully cooked. If it’s not, add some more stock and take it back to the oven for a couple of extra minutes.
Once it’s done, remove the foil and toss the mushroom mix all over the rice. Give everything a stir and mix all the ingredients together.
Check back on the chicken and once it’s golden and crispy, take the pieces to the plate with the rice and the mushrooms.