One Pot Wonder

You just can't beat a one pot meal.  Less clean up is always a good thing if you ask me!  I'd say in the past year or so I've really grown to appreciate chicken thighs.  They have slightly more fat than a chicken breast but they also have a lot more iron and zinc (good for the immune system and cancer prevention to name a few perks).  Better still, they are cheaper than chicken breasts.  I found this recipe on the Food & Wine website called Indonesian Coconut Rice with Chicken and Zucchini.  Sounds exotic but if you or your family members are not adventurous eaters, fear not.  This is pretty tame, very easy and a nice change from plain o'll chicken and rice.

To start, heat some oil in a large, deep frying pan or a Dutch oven.  Season 8 chicken thighs with salt and pepper.  I used boneless, skinless chicken.  Brown on both sides, about 8 minutes total.

Remove the chicken from the pot and add onion and cook until soft while stirring occasionally.  Then add the garlic and cook for another minute. 

Next you add coriander, cumin, 1 1/2 cups of long grain rice along with some salt and pepper and cook stirring for one more minute.

After that you pour in one can of unsweetened coconut milk and 1 3/4 cups of water.  Add the thighs back to the bot and bring to a simmer.  Cover and cook on low (stirring two or three times) until rice and chicken are almost done, about 20 min.

While that's working, dice up a pound of zucchini (this is where the kids come in handy).

Add the zucchini and cover.  Cook until done, about 7 minutes more.  Then stir in a little lemon juice and some chopped fresh cilantro.  Unless of course you're one of those people that thinks cilantro tastes like soap, if you're one of those leave it out.  I so love cilantro, I would never choose to leave it out.

There you have it my friends.  This is good stuff!  I didn't change anything in this recipe so just click on this Food & Wine link for the full recipe and enjoy!