Roasted vegetables with brown rice and grilled chicken

 

Turning 40 changed a lot of things for me, especially when it comes to health.  The pandemic brought in more challenges and had me thinking of making more healthy food and trying to drink milk as my bones have started to give me trouble. 

Anyway, I decided to try brown rice. I have seen brown basmati rice and it turns out a lovely nutty flavour. Unlike regular basmati, brown basmati needs time to cook and a bit more soaking time to speed up cooking. 

I made a kind of warm salad of sorts by mixing in roasted butternut, peppers and saute' in some spinach and then mixing everything in the warm oil.  Sometimes I use frozen broccoli if I don't get any spinach. 

I served this with some grilled chicken. You can even bake the chicken if you don't want to spend too much time in the kitchen. Although the taste is different you won't get that smokey flavor. 

Yield: 2-4

Author: Nammi

Roasted vegetables and brown rice with grilled chicken

Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 1 HourInactive time: 1 HourTotal time: 2 H & 30 M

Ingredients

Grilled chicken

• 325g chicken breast pieces, ( 2 large pieces or 3 small)
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• ½ cumin powder
• ½ paprika
• ½ tsp dried herbs
• Salt
• 1/2lime juice
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil

Roasted vegetables

• 325g butternut
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 1 medium onion
• ½ tsp ground cumin,
• ½ tsp smoked or sweet paprika
• ¼ tsp chilli powder
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• salt
• 2 -3 tbp olive oil

Brown rice

• 1 ¼ cups brown basmati
• 2 ½ cups water
• ½ chicken stock cube
• ½ bag of baby spinach or 1 cup frozen or fresh broccoli florets
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• Olive oil 3 -4 tbsp
• Lime juice ½
• A little honey
• ½ tsp salt and pepper
• A handful of craisins or pomegranate seeds (optional)
• Handful finely chopped parsley or coriander

Instructions

Grilled chicken

1. Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and pour it over the chicken and marinate for at least an hour(outside) or a few hours or overnight in the fridge
2. If you kept it in the fridge, take it out an hour before grilling.
3. Heat a frying pan or grill pan on high heat, once it starts smoking, place the chicken pieces on top and grill on high for 3-5 minutes. Then turn it over, cover, and lower the heat to medium and cook 8- 10 minutes. This ensures the chicken is cooked through. Remove lid, check the thickest part of the chicken for doneness by inserting a sharp knife and looking in to see if there are any raw parts.
4. Remove to a plate, cover, and let it rest. It is important to rest the chicken for 10 minutes before cutting it.

Roasted vegetables

1. *roast the vegetables a few hours ahead if you like.
2. Mix the marinate ingredients in a bowl.
3. Cut the butternut and peppers into similar sizes for even cooking. Dont peel the butternut. The skin is very flavorful especially after roasting.
4. Cut the onion into wedges.
5. Place everything in a bowl and add the marinade and season with salt.
6. Arrange on a baking tray and pop in a preheated 200 degrees C oven for 45 to one hour. Give a toss half way through cooking time.
7. Remove once done. Set aside.

Rice and finishing the dish

1. Soak the brown basmati in water for 1-2 hours. Drain and rinse.
2. Place in a saucepan along with the said amount of water, mixed with the stock cube and a little salt.
3. Cook on medium heat until cooked through. Add a little extra water if you feel it still needs to be cooked further.
4. Switch and fluff the rice.
5. Once the rice is done, and the last minute before serving, heat olive oil in a pan, 4tbsp, add the garlic and saute on medium heat until you get a the smell of garlic cooking. Add the fresh spinach or frozen broccoli ( thawed and cut it into smaller pieces), toss a few times, add little chilli flakes and a little salt. Then switch off, add lime juice and alittle honey and mix in.
6. Then stir in the rice, roasted vegetables and gently mix everything in the pan. Taste, adjust salt. finally, add craisins or pomegranate seeds ( or leave it out if you don't have any) and then some chopped parsley or coriander leaves.
7. Spoon into serving bowls, slice the grilled chicken and arrange on a side of the bowl. Enjoy!

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