A low effort, super delicious chicken and rice recipe with a Lebanese twist!
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breast or 8-10 chicken thighs or a combination of both
- 1 tsp chicken or vegetable stock concentrate (or 1 cube of dry)
- 1 small yellow onion or 1/2 large white onion
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped or minced
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 cups basmati rice
- 1/2 cup Italian vermicelli – wheat, not the Asian rice vermicelli
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- 2 tsp Lebanese 7 spice:
- 1 tbsp all spice
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp coriander
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- Toasted pine nuts or toasted slivered almonds for garnish
- Chopped parsley for garnish
Directions
- Place the chicken, onion, garlic cinnamon stick, and bay leaf into a slow cooker or pot. Cover with water, adding the chicken or vegetable stock for additional flavour.
- Once the chicken is fully cooked (3-4 hours), take it out of the stock and shred with a fork. Keep the stock for cooking the rice.
- In your rice pot, heat a bit of oil over medium high heat. Add the wheat vermicelli noodles and fry them until golden brown.
- Add the rice to the same pot with 4 cups of the chicken stock from earlier (add water if there’s not enough stock). Add in your spices – salt, pepper, cinnamon, and 7 spice. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and cover for 20 minutes.
- Once the rice is cooked, combine it with the shredded chicken, sprinkling in some more 7 spice for additional flavour. Top with toasted pine nuts or almonds and parsley. Serve with a side of tabbouleh and hummus!
Thanks to Baitiana for the recipe!