Lemon Chicken, Garlicky Broccoli and Brown Rice

Hello, my fellow foodies!!!

Tonight, I made lemon chicken, broccoli with lots of garlic and some brown rice.

*Lemon Chicken

The lemon chicken recipe is from Annie's Eats (http://annies-eats.net/2010/04/15/lemon-chicken/), and I will provide my notes on this recipe below:

The recipe calls for fresh thyme leaves and fresh rosemary leaves.  If you read my last blog (Lemon Zucchini Risotto), then you'll remember that I don't really care for fresh herbs.  For this dish, I used dried thyme and rosemary.  I used the same amount of herbs the recipe calls for, even though you should use a less amount of dried due to their more powerful flavor.

I used about 3 1/2 lbs. of bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. 

I am not a big fan of garnishments because I think they are a waste (think chopped parsley as a garnish - waste of money).  With that said, I didn't use the thinly sliced lemons as a garnishment.  That is my opinion, but, obviously, you can feel free to finish the dish as you see fit.  

I baked the chicken in a 9 x 13 cake/brownie pan with amazing results.   

*Garlicky Broccoli

This is my own recipe, and I will give it to you now:

3 + 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 bunch of broccoli (about three heads bunched together by that purple rubber band), cut into florets, rinsed and dried

Fine sea salt

Pepper

Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the garlic & red pepper flakes.  Stir & saute for about 30 seconds.  When you add these two ingredients, they need to sizzle when they hit the pan.

Add the broccoli and the other two tbsp olive oil on top of the broccoli.  Stir to coat the broccoli with the oil, red pepper flakes and garlic.  Season with salt and pepper and cook on medium heat for about 12-15 minutes, stirring every 2 - 2 1/2 minutes.

Remove the broccoli from the heat and taste a small piece and adjust seasonings, if necessary. 

Serve with your meal!

Brown Rice

I am trying to eat fewer white starches, so I am making the effort to incorporate other grains into my meals (i.e. brown rice, quinoa, barley, couscous, millet, etc.).  The problem with brown rice is that it takes forever to cook, especially if you use a rice cooker.  On the stove top, it takes less time (about 45-50 minutes), so I try to make brown rice when I have another portion of the meal that takes about an hour to cook.

With this meal, the chicken took two hours to marinade and one hour to cook, so I had the chicken and rice cooking at the same time.  I started the broccoli with about 20 minutes left on the chicken and rice.  

Let me know if you try any of these and if you have any comments or questions.

Til tomorrow!