Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Cheesy Skillet Chicken + Rice w/ Green Beans

Today marks the start on my quest to explore new virtues of food! After discovering several new recipes, I put together a three night menu of foods I had never cooked before. Tonight, Wednesday night, and Thursday night I will feature these new dishes here at A Dash of Southern! Along with the recipe, I will post a handful of photos, and my personnel review! Enjoy tonight's entree of Cheesy Skillet Chicken, served with rice and green beans!!


Recipe:

Cheesy Skillet Chicken and Rice with Green Beans
*Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Salt and ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped  (1/2 an onion... not a huge fan!)
8 ounces white button mushrooms, brushed clean and quartered or sliced
4 medium garlic cloves, finely minced or pressed through a garlic press (did not add)
1 ½ cups long grain white rice
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
½ pound frozen or fresh green beans
1 cup shredded sharp or extra-sharp cheddar cheese
½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese



DIRECTIONS:
Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season liberally with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until the oil is rippling and hot. Carefully lay each chicken breast in the skillet and cook until the chicken is well browned on the first side, about 3-4 minutes. Flip the chicken with a pair of tongs and let it brown on the second side, about 3 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside. Drain all but about 1-2 tablespoons oil from the pan.



 Return the pan to medium heat. Add the onion, mushrooms, garlic and ½ teaspoon salt and cook, scraping the browned bits off the bottom and edges of the pan, until the mushrooms begin to soften and start to brown, about 6-8 minutes. Add the rice and continue to cook until the edges of the rice turn translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a simmer. Add the chicken to the pan and cover, reduce the heat to low and cook until the chicken is no longer pink in the center and the rice is mostly cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the skillet again, brushing off any rice that sticks to the chicken back into the skillet. Cover the chicken with foil to keep warm. Stir the green beans into the skillet, stir the mixture well, cover and continue to cook on low until the beans and rice are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.


**To be honest, I love love love the rice part of the dish. It is so cheesy and creamy, just the way I love everything! The chicken was a tad dry. Next time I might marinate the chicken breasts in chicken broth overnight or use a Kraft Fresh Take mix then bake the chicken. I made four pieces of chicken and wish I would've done more (6-8) Chicken shrinks when cooked, so they ended up half the size as they were when I began! Overall, I am very excited with how this turned out! Took around an hour and fifteen minutes from very start, to when I sat down to eat! 

For more details regarding how I prepared this recipe, or your personnel critic, feel free to email me at dashofsouthern at yahoo dot com !!!


Recipe from Mel @ Mel's Kitchen Cafe


2 comments:

  1. Not gonna lie... you had me at mushrooms! Yum!

    Love & Lollies... Jessa

    Caked Vintage Blog

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know where your coming from, mushrooms are my fav! enjoy :)

    ♥Rachel

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