Lemon Chicken and Rice

Video below on how to make this light and delicious dish

Looking for a light crockpot recipe after slightly overindulging over the holiday? Or for me, after super indulging for a solid 7 days around Thanksgiving…it's true. Well, if so, this easy lemon chicken and rice crockpot recipe will hit the spot! 

 Let me first say that I am not, in any way whatsoever, sorry for even 1 second, for having more than my share of food and drinks over the holiday week. So, this is not an apology recipe by any means. Having said that, I do think it's best for me and my jeans to try a few lighter things over the next few weeks, before I move to my second act of overindulging on food and beverages,  later this month. 

Ingredients/Recipe:

• 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (you could also use chicken thighs)

• 1 1/2 cups of long grain brown rice

• 3 cups of chicken broth

• 1 lemon

• 1 small onion

• 2 tbsp of butter

• 2 tbsp of olive oil

• 1 tsp of oregano

• 1 tsp of basil

• Salt and pepper (for seasoning the chicken)

Putting it Together:

Prior to adding items to the crockpot: Season your chicken with salt and pepper and some olive oil, and set aside. Cut up the onion into good sized chunks and cut your lemon in half.   

Spray your crockpot, sides and bottom, and then add all ingredients above, minus the chicken and lemon, and give this a good mix. Then get half of the lemon you cut, and squeeze the juice from it into the mixture.

Place on high for 3 hours. After 1 hour, grab your seasoned chicken breasts and add them to the mixture.

After the 3 hours, let the food sit in the crockpot with it off, for 10-15 minutes. If it needs to be loosened up a bit, you can add a bit more chicken broth, before serving.

Serving:

Serve the rice and chicken together, and if you so desire, squeeze some of the lemon juice from the half of lemon left, onto the chicken and rice before serving. This was such a delicious recipe, especially that rice! Seriously, some of the best rice I have had, I may do more rice in the crockpot, starting immediately.

 Load of Crock Tip(s):

• Cooking rice in a crockpot takes a fine mixture of art and science. Ok. It doesn't. But, do note, that to ensure your rice does not end up super mushy, you will want to cook this recipe on high for 3 hours; rice can get very mushy when cooked on low.

• For the first 2 solid hours, you may feel like you are making soup, but not to worry, shortly after the 2-hour mark, you will see the rice start to puff up around the chicken. So you can breathe, it’s not a soup.

• Feel free to add capers, or artichokes, substitute some broth with some white wine for a bit more flavor (my best friend Callie’s recommendation!), and garnish with some shredded parm.

As I said, I am not apologizing for overindulging over Thanksgiving, and the only thing YOU should be saying is "you're welcome" to yourself, from yourself, for making this recipe. Happy light(er) cooking (at least for now) to all!