I never seem to take pictures of the food I make any more. I used to do it all the time, the kids got used to waiting for the picture before digging in. Then our routines got disrupted and I got out of the habit. Heck, we just started eating dinner at the table regularly this week–something we used to do all the time! I have missed it. Sitting in front of the TV in the family room may be eating together, but it is nowhere near the same thing. The children’s table manners suffered, I tell you–we are not doing this a minute too soon.
To celebrate getting back to eating in the dining room, at the table, like civilized people, I wanted to find a new way to make chicken, one that we would all enjoy. In the interest of decluttering my house, I am trying to go through the cookbooks I haven’t used in a while to see if they are worth keeping, and I found the inspiration for this dish in an old Mr. Food series cookbook, Old World Cooking Made Easy. I like to add some quinoa to my rice dishes for extra protein, nutrition and interest, and I find that a lot of recipes don’t have enough spice or veggies, although in this case it was extra fruit that I added to the dish.
This was definitely a hit–I had to tell the kids they couldn’t eat it all, I needed some for lunch the next day. We had steamed veggies on the side. It was also a nice easy dish, with some downtime to clear off the table, look through the mail and generally get a few things done while dinner was cooking. We will definitely be having this again!
Persian Chicken and Rice/Quinoa
1 TBSP olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup dried apricots, cut into small pieces (use kitchen shears to make this go quickly)
1/3 cup raisins
~1.5 pounds chicken–we used boneless skinless thighs
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
several twists of freshly ground pepper
1 cup brown rice
1 cup quinoa
1 32 ounce container chicken broth
Sautee the onions in the olive oil for 2-3 minutes, until they start to soften. Add the apricots, raisins, cinnamon and pepper. Stir and sautee for 3-4 minutes longer, then add chicken. Brown the chicken on all side, then add the broth and stir well. Bring to a boil, then stir in the rice and quinoa; turn the heat down to a simmer and cook with a lid on the pot for 30 minutes, or until the broth is absorbed and the rice is cooked through.
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