One-Pot Sticky Coconut Chicken & Rice

I have a couple more chicken and rice dishes to share. 🙂

This wonderful one-pot dish was included in The New York Times’ Best Recipes of 2022. I was surprised that I missed it when it was first published!

The recipe was adapted from The New York Times, contributed by Kay Chun. I modified the proportions. I cooked it in a large enameled cast iron Dutch oven. Although it cooked perfectly, I may use a shallow and wide pan next time to be able to serve it directly from the pan at the table. We ate it with roasted cauliflower on the side.

Flavorful and fabulous comfort food! Easy to prepare too. The hot sauce garnish balances the richness of the finished dish.

Yield: Serves 6

• 2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, each thigh cut into 2 equal-size pieces, patted dry
• 5 T neutral oil, such as safflower or canola, divided
• 3 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or 1 1/2 tsp Morton kosher salt)
• 3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 T minced fresh ginger
• 7 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups arborio rice (or other short-grain white rice), rinsed until water runs clear
• 1 3/4 cups chicken stock
• 1 (13.5-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk
• 1 yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup roasted cashews
• 4 scallions, green and white parts, thinly sliced
• 3 T coarsely chopped cilantro
• hot sauce, for serving, optional

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. (I set my oven to true convection.)
2. Rub chicken with 2 tablespoons of oil, and season with 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.
3. In a large Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium. Working in two batches, brown chicken, turning halfway, until no longer pink, around 5 minutes on the first side and an additional 3 minutes after flipping. Transfer to a plate.
4. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, the ginger and the garlic to the empty pot, and stir until fragrant, 30 seconds.
5. Add rinsed rice and stir until evenly coated in the oil.
6. Add stock, coconut milk, bell pepper, cashews, scallions and the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir to lift up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. (I had a lot of browned bits!)
7. Arrange chicken on top, add any accumulated juices from the plate and bring to a boil over high.
8. Cover and bake until all of the liquid is absorbed, rice is tender and chicken is cooked through, 25 minutes.
9. Scatter cilantro over the chicken and rice, then divide among bowls. Serve with hot sauce, as desired.

Fresh Tomato Risotto

My friend has been sharing her beautiful homegrown tomatoes. Lucky me! They are more delicious than my CSA tomatoes. ❤

I try to use them in a special way and I love that this risotto uses fresh tomatoes in two ways- cooked and sliced as a colorful garnish. My homegrown basil and parsley were the icing on the cake.

This recipe was adapted from The New York Times, contributed by David Tanis. I attempted to adapt the recipe to cook using my pressure cooker, as I usually do with risotto, but there wasn’t enough liquid for it to cook properly. Cooking this version in the traditional manner is the way to go. 🙂 By using boiling liquid, it was still a quick weeknight dish!

Yield: 4 servings

• extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
• coarse salt and pepper
• 1 1/2 cups arborio or carnaroli rice
• pinch of red-pepper flakes
• 3 large garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 cups diced ripe red tomatoes (and all juices)
• 3 to 4 cups boiling water, chicken or vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup grated pecorino or Parmesan, plus more for serving
• 2 to 4 medium tomatoes, in different colors, sliced
• chopped parsley, for garnish
• snipped basil, for garnish

1. Put 3 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, then add the onion, and season generously with salt. Add pepper to taste, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the rice and cook the onions, stirring, until the onions are barely brown, about 2 minutes.
3. Add red-pepper flakes, garlic, white wine and diced tomatoes, and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes more.
4. Add 2 cups boiling water or stock and adjust the heat to a brisk simmer. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring well with a wooden spoon every minute or so.
5. When the liquid is absorbed, add remaining 1 cup water or stock and continue to cook for another 5 minutes, until the rice is cooked, but the grains are still firm. (I added an additional cup of stock.)
6. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding another splash of water if necessary to loosen the mixture.
7. Turn off the heat, stir in the grated cheese and 2 more tablespoons olive oil. (I omitted the additional oil.)
8. Transfer to a low, wide serving bowl. Surround the rice with tomato slices and season them with salt and pepper.
9. Sprinkle with parsley and basil. Pass more grated cheese at the table, as desired.

Chicken & Rice Soup with Garlicky Chile Oil

Enough sweet treats! Now I am going to start sharing several comfort food dishes.

I could eat soup every night in cold weather. The starches released by cooking the rice in the stock thickened the base of this dish. The resulting soup tasted hearty and rich.

This recipe was adapted from Bon Appétit, contributed by Kat Boytsova. I modified the proportions, replaced most of the water with stock, and used olive oil, Italian carnaroli rice, and added parmesan rind.

The garlicky chile oil topping, which I doubled (it was recommended to have leftovers!), made this wonderful soup extra special. We ate it with a sourdough baguette and green salad.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

• 1 medium to large yellow onion
• 6 garlic cloves (I used 12 cloves to double the oil)
• 2/3 cup white rice, preferably short grain such as Arborio or medium grain such as Carnaroli
• 6 T olive oil or vegetable oil (I used 10 T to double the oil)
• 1-2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (I used 1 tsp in my double batch)
• 6 cups poultry stock (I used 4 cups homemade turkey stock & 2 cups chicken stock)
• 2 cups water
• 1 to 1 1/2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• 3 tsp kosher salt, divided
• parmesan rind, optional
• 1 large bunch Tuscan kale (I used 10oz bag of chopped Tuscan kale)
• freshly squeezed juice from 1 lemon
• dill sprigs, for garnish
• freshly ground black pepper

1. To Prep Ingredients: Peel and finely chop 1 onion. Peel and thinly slice the garlic cloves. Rinse rice in a fine-mesh sieve until water runs clear.
2. To Make the Garlic-Chile Oil: (I made a double batch.) Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium. Add garlic and cook, swirling pan often, until golden brown, 3–5 minutes; the garlic will continue to cook and darken slightly after it’s off the heat, so be conservative here. Transfer to a small heatproof bowl, leaving 1 T garlic oil in pot. Stir the crushed red pepper flakes into garlic oil in bowl; set aside.
3. To Make the Soup: Add the chopped onion to the 1 T of garlic oil that remains in the in saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent and beginning to take on some color, about 5 minutes.
4. Pour in stock and water and stir to combine.
5. Stir in rice, chicken thighs, 1 tsp salt, and parmesan rind, if using. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and bring to a gentle simmer. Simmer, uncovered, until chicken is cooked through, about 10 to 20 minutes, or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
6. Using tongs, transfer chicken to a plate and let sit until cool enough to handle. Shred meat with two forks. Continue to simmer soup while you’re prepping the rest of your ingredients (this will concentrate the flavor of the broth).
7. Strip kale leaves off of thick center ribs, discarding ribs. Rinse kale thoroughly in cold water, shake off excess water, then thinly slice leaves crosswise.
8. Add kale and shredded chicken to pot. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until kale is bright green and chicken is warmed through, about 4 minutes.
9. Remove pot from heat. Squeeze in lemon juice (being careful not to let any seeds fall in), season with 1 to 2 tsp salt, or more to taste, and stir to combine.
10. Divide soup among bowls. Drizzle with reserved garlic-chile oil. Garnish with dill sprigs and a few grinds of black pepper.