At the end of the week, there’s usually some bits & pieces of fresh ingredients left-over from the week’s worth of cooking. Last week, it was celery, red & yellow peppers, and a single small aubergine. Looked in my pantry and found a can of diced tomatoes, so I threw this dish together.
Honestly, I didn’t plan to use it as one of my blog posts. But I took step-by-step pictures anyway. You know, just in case? And I’m glad I did! This meal turned out to be absolutely delicious! The husband could not get enough of it.
It’s amazing what you can make from left-over ingredients in the fridge. This recipe will work with whatever vegetables you have. All you have to do is to dice it up and add it to the mix. I used arborio rice simply because I had some left that I’d like to finish up. Long grain rice will work for this recipe as well. The best part of this recipe is that it’s a one pot.
One Pan Chicken & Rice
Ingredients
- 2 cups arborio rice
- 4 boneless chicken thighs
- 1 small eggplant diced
- 1-2 ribs celery diced
- 1/2 red pepper diced
- 1/2 yellow pepper diced
- 1/2 yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 can 425g diced tomatoes with liquid
- 2 -1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1-1/2 tsp old bay
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Chopped coriander to garnish
Instructions
- Pat dry & season chicken thighs with old bay.
- Heat pan on medium high heat with olive oil. I used my Le Creuset Buffet Casserole.
- Place chicken in, skin side down and allow to cook for 5-6 minutes until golden.
- Flip and cook for another 2 minutes, then transfer chicken to plate to rest.
- Add onion, peppers, and eggplant into the pan and saute for 3 minutes.
- Then add in garlic, and rice to saute together for a minute.
- Add in bay leaf, thyme, diced tomatoes, and chicken stock.
- Season with salt and black pepper.
- Bring to a boil, then return the chicken into the pan.
- Cover, lower heat to a simmer, and allow to simmer for about 18-20 minutes until rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed.
- If the rice is still wet, you can remove lid and allow liquid to cook off, be careful not the burn the bottom though.
- Garnish with chopped coriander and serve.
