Easy Chicken and Vegetable Rice

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boneless chicken, chicken breast, chicken cubes, easy biryani, rice dish, vegetable rice

 

A satisfying family style vegetables rice loaded with chicken cubes for easy weeknight meals.

When it comes to weekdays meal, I always try to make the fast and most convenient ones. Since there is no time to make any fancy meals, that is now limited to a big celebration or in a special occasions. It’s no surprise that as the school year progresses, with lots of my kids homeworks and activities, so do the daily challenges of everyday life, and from my own schedule that I’m preparing to take the GRE test, which is my first step into earning my graduate degree. So what’s a busy mom like me to do?

The simplified version of the well-known indian or Khaleeji dish “Biryani” which mostly features chicken and vegetables and rice.

The ingredients are simple, but chicken-and-rice combination take on a world of exotic flavors. some cubed chicken, frozen peas, carrots, potato all pound up with aromatic blend of spices, and in just about 40 minutes you’ll have a kicked-up chicken and vegetable rice dinner that’s both savory and satisfying.

 

Easy Chicken and Vegetable Rice

1 cup green peas, frozen
3 medium carrots,cut into small cubes
2 medium potato, cut into small cubes
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into small cubes
1 large onion cuted in half and sliced thinly
1 1\2 cup basmatti rice, washed
2 tablespoon mixed ground spices (cardamom, cloves, coriander, all spice, black pepper, cumin)
1\4 teaspoon ground dill seeds
1\2 teaspoon turmeric
1 Maggi chicken stock cube
vegetable oil
2 1\4 cup chicken stock or water

In a large sauce pan, add 1-2 tablespoon vegetable oil, add the potato, stir and cover in medium heat until golden brown and almost cooked, put it a side. on the same pot, add the carrots, stir and let cook for 1 min before adding the peas, cook for more 2-3 min, put it a side.

Add the onion, add some more oil, stir and toast until browned, put it a side. on the same put add the chicken cubes with 1 teaspoon of the mixed spices, stir and let cooked halfway.

Add all the vegetables, the onion, the washed rice, 2 tablespoon mixed spices, the Maggi cube, the turmeric, salt and the dill, mix all together, add the stock or water, let boil, cover and simmer for about 15 min.

serve with your favourite salad or yogurt on the side.

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Roasted Turkey Legs with Vegetable Rice

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elegant meals, roasted turkey, turkey legs, vegetable rice, weekend menu

Pan roasted turkey legs with herbs and onion, colorful vegetable rice with toasted pine nuts on the side, adds an elegant weekend meal that you don’t want to miss on your table.

At first, I would like to thank the sweet Jamie for her gift. Yes, I won the giveaway she offered with her whole wheat banana bread. Thank you so much Jamie, I can’t wait to receive it. And duds don’t forget to say hello to Jamie here in her deliteful blog”A Dash of Domestic”. Yes, she likes the giveaway things, so stick around you will be happy.

For the turkey lovers, this recipe is so easy and elegant, the slow braising of the turkey legs makes it tender from the inside crisp from outside, with the roasted onions and a touch of fresh herbs: sage, oregano, and thyme, will be perfect for a family elegant weakend meal. Try to cover the pan so it keep the turkey lean and tender. unlike frozen turkey , the fresh bird release a lot of juice as they cook, so be prepared to use it as a gravy if you wish.

As for a side, I did the vegetable rice, that make it complimentary the meal with the turkey, try to toast the vegetable first then add the rice and toast it a little, I like to toast the rice before adding the water or stock, this will give the rice the texture to stay holding itself and don’t become soggy.

Roasted Turkey Legs with Vegetable Rice

4 turkey leg
salt and freshly ground pepper
1\2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1\2 teaspoon ground coriander
1\2 teaspoon paprika
1\4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion sliced cross-wide
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh sage
2 spring fresh oregano
1 cup homemade chicken broth or water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Rinse and dry turkey legs; season on all sides with salt, pepper, cardamom, coriander, paprika, cumin and some chopped fresh thyme. Set aside.

On medium high heat, add olive oil to the pan. Add turkey legs, working in batches if necessary. Cook, turning, until turkey is browned on all sides, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer legs to a plate and keep the fats in the pan.

Add the onions, stirring, until golden brown, about 5 minute.

Add the water or stock, reduce heat, cook until it begins to bubble. Add thyme, sage and oregano stir, then cover. Return turkey legs to the pan, cover and transfer to oven.

Cook for 40 -60 minutes, turn turkey legs, uncover, and continue cooking, 10 minutes more.
Transfer turkey legs to a serving platter. Skim fat from top of braising liquid and discard; keep the liquids with the roasted onions, spoon over turkey legs. Serve.

Vegetable Rice

1 cup frozen peas
1 cup chopped fresh carrots
1 1\2 cups basmati rice
1\4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1\4 teaspoon ground coriander
2 tablespoon oil
salt and ground black pepper
2 1\4 cup chicken stock
toasted pine nuts for garnish

On medium heat, add the oil to the pan, add the peas and carrot, a dash of salt and spices, stir, about 2 minutes.

Add the washed and cleaned rice, toast it with the vegetable and keep stirring, until lightly toasted, about 2-3 minutes.

Add the cardamom, coriander, salt and pepper, stir, then add the chicken stock, so the liquids is 1 inch above the rice, cover and lower the heat on low, let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Don’t cook the rice more, it will become soggy. get the heat off, and let the rice sit covered for 5 minutes before serving, fluf with the fork and serve.

serve with pine nuts on top.

Appam and Curry_The Daring Cook August Challenge.

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appam, chicken curry, chicken recipes, curry dishes, daring cooks, flat bread, indian recipes, potato

Blog-checking lines: Mary, who writes the delicious blog, Mary Mary Culinary was our August Daring Cooks’ host. Mary chose to show us how delicious South Indian cuisine is! She challenged us to make Appam and another South Indian/Sri Lankan dish to go with the warm flat bread.
The Appam was wonderful and really delicious, although it’s my first time eating and doing the appam, but like it. I made a chicken potato curry to go with the appam. Thank you so much marry for this great and delicious challenge.

Appam
I went with mary recipe you can find it here and much more.

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups raw rice
1 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
½ cup of coconut water or water, room temperature
1 ½ tablespoons cooked rice
½ teaspoon salt
about ½ cup thick coconut milk (from the top of an unshaken can)

Directions:

Soak the raw rice in 4 to 5 cups of water for 3 hours. You can soak it overnight, although I did not try that.
Dissolve the sugar in the coconut water or plain water and add the yeast. Set aside in a warm area for 10-15 minutes, until very frothy.
Drain the rice and grind it in a blender with the yeast mixture to make a smooth batter. You can add a bit of extra water if needed, but I did not. Add the cooked rice, and grind/blend to combine well. You can see that it is not completely smooth, but very thick—that’s about right.

Pour into a large bowl, cover and leave in a warm place for 8-12 hours. You not only want the mixture to rise and collapse, but to ferment. When it is ready, it will have a slightly sour and distinctly yeasty smell. Don’t worry–they are mild tasting when cooked!

Add the coconut milk and salt, and a bit of water if necessary, so that you have a batter that is just a bit thicker than milk. Notice how it bubbles after you add the coconut milk. I recommend test-cooking one before thinning the batter.

Heat your pan over medium heat. Wipe a few drops of oil over it using a paper towel. Stir the batter and pour in 3-4 tablespoons, depending on the size of the pan. Working quickly, hold the handle(s) and give the pan a quick swirl so that the batter comes to the top edge. Swirl once only, as you want the edges to be thin and lacy.

Cover the pan and cook for about 2 minutes. Uncover and check. The center should have puffed up a bit, and will be shiny, but dry to the touch. When ready, loosen the edges with a small spatula and serve immediately. These need to be served hot out of the pan.

Chicken Potato Curry

2 tablespoons olive oil
1\2 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1\2 tablespoons curry powder
1\4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1\2 teaspoon paprika
1 bay leaf
curry leaves
2 potatoes peeled and cut into big pieces
salt to taste
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cut into bite-size pieces
1\2  cup coconut milk
1 green pepper

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onion until lightly browned. Stir in garlic, curry powder, cinnamon, paprika, bay leaf,curry leaves, and salt. Continue stirring for 2 minutes. Add chicken pieces, potato pieces and water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until the chicken cooked and tender.
Remove bay leaf, add the pepper and coconut milk. Simmer 5-10 more minutes.

Chicken Skewers with Mint and Cucumber Yogurt Dip

Tags

Chicken, Cucumber, Mint, Yogurt

 Yesterday I was in mode for a backyard barbecue!

Since it looked sunny in the morning and warm, so started preparing the chicken,  let it thow then marinated with  spicy delicious marinade, by the noon it started to look cloudy then within half an hour it rained.

Holy God ! I think we never must relay on early look, since we are in April never depend on good weather.

I insist on grilling and thanks to our covered grill.

 Some tips on the recipe:

•  Start with the skewers, if you use the wooden ones let them soak in water so they don’t burn quickly.
• For the marinade of chicken I used many spices and you also may try your  favourite flavor.
• The yogurt make big difference to let the chicken comes tender and juicy so don’t hesitate and try it.
• About the Mint and Cucumber Yogurt  Dip you can prepare it ahead of time and keep it in the fridge, this will  concentrate the mint flavor.
• In this recipe I used chicken tenders you can use the breast or thighs and the amount depend on the party of people.
• You can use any kind of veggies to skew with the chicken, try the fresh mushroom it is very delicious when grilled.

 

Chicken Skewers with Mint and Cucumber Yogurt Dip

 

 FOR THE MARINADE:

12 pieces of chicken tenders

1\2 teaspoon of each ground: (coriander, cumin, sumac, safflower, cardamom, sweet pepper, black pepper, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder)

3\4 – 1 teaspoon salt depend how salty you like the food

3 tablespoon yogurt

3 tablespoon olive oil

 FOR THE SKEWERS:

green bell pepper

sweet onion

tomato

 Cut the chicken tenders into medium pieces, mix all the other ingredient of marinade with the chicken, keep it in the fridge at least for 2 hours.

soak the wooden skewers in water until you are ready to skew the chicken, prepare the veggies cut each into cubes of medium sizes.

start to skew the chicken and the vegetable, try to put them in a pattern.

 

 Prepare the grill, I always wipe the wires with a touch of oil so it will prevent sticking with the food, and heat it at medium high.

Place the skewers cover it and cook for about 15 – 20 minutes untill it done, make sure to turn it on the other side so they get grilled evenly.

Serve it with the mint and cucumber dip accompanied with white rice.

 Mint and Cucumber Yogurt Dip

 cucumber

1 cup of fresh mint

2 cups yogurt

salt

1 gloves garlic

 Shop the cucumber into small cuts, mince the garlic add to cucumber chop the mint leaves very fine,  add salt and yogurt mix it together,  keep it in the fridge at the time of serving.

 

 for the white rice

 I used the basmati rice and cook it with the flavor of bay leaves and touch of ground cardamom, for every 1 cup of rice put 1 1\2 cup water, 2 tablespoon of sunflower oil bring it to broil turn the heat down to let it simmer with the cover on, untill all the water absorbed this will take around 10 minutes.

Fluff it with the fork,  turn the heat off and keep it covered for another 5 minutes.

 

 BON APPÉTIT …