In my cooking for one series of posts, I have been talking about making the meal interesting. Justifying the time spent cooking and cleaning. That applies to cooking for one, or, an entire family. Nothing justifies the cooking process more than a tasty meal. Well, here we have just that, chicken breast marinated in teriyaki sauce then cooked with broccoli and served over rice. Marinating anything makes it better, adds a whole new flavor dimension. Please read on for teriyaki chicken and broccoli
A short class
We are what we eat. Simple phrase. We are all becoming more aware of the food we consume. Reducing processed foods is good, however, it’s not easy. Skipping the line at the local fast food joint is only part of the solution. Our time is limited, and precious, that delicate balance of work time and home time. The idea of the family gathering around the dinner table for a “family dinner” is, unfortunately, less and less realistic.
Different work schedules, extra curricular school activities, so many distractions. Yet, study after study has shown how a family dinner is beneficial in so many ways. If nothing else, a conversation can be had, and, that, in of itself is important. So with all this going on, dinner has to be easy to assemble, tasty and easy to clean. Oh, and, something that reheats easy. Even if only half the family eat together, it’s a start, and there’s food for the other “dinner shift”
The marinade
So enough of the sociology class, lets move on to the cooking part. The measurements listed here are for one, well, me, and I eat well. Double everything for 3 or 4. Marinated anything is good, ideally, longer the better, but in this case 15 mins will be fine. Starting with a chicken breast, cut it into fine strips. As with anything there is a hack for this. Put the breast in the freezer for 1/2 hour prior to prep, adds a little firmness to it, but only if you have the time. Now cut the strips into 2″ lengths, this makes them more manageable. Put them in a baggie with 2 tablespoons of teriyaki sauce, seal the bag, manipulate to mix and toss on a plate in the fridge. Because we’ve been handling raw food, clean up is very important, please read this post, its very informative.
The rest
While the chicken is doing it’s thing in the fridge, the prep for the rest of the ingredients can be done. As with most things in life, timing is everything, and cooking is no different. The rice takes 20 mins to cook, 15 to cook and 5 to rest. So the rice cooking time controls everything, the chicken gets cooked at the same time. To make this easier, prep everything before you start cooking. For the veggies; 1/2 pepper chopped fine, 1/2 onion chopped fine and 2 or 3 cloves of garlic chopped fine. Rinse 1/2 cup of rice and set aside. And, because there has to be green on every plate. Broccoli is coming to the party, 1 1/2 cups of the florets will work, rinse and put in the steamer.
The process
The rice to water ratio for white rice is 2:1. So, in an appropriate sized pot, put up one cup of water, over high heat to bring to a boil. While that’s doing it’s thing, put a pan over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. When the water boils, add the rinsed rice, stir to break up the rice grains, turn to low, cover and set a timer for 15 mins. Now add the vegetables and chicken into the pan, add salt and pepper to taste. Mix everything well and cover, stirring occasionally.
The broccoli will take 10 minutes to cook from when you turn on the heat (5 for the water to boil, 5 to cook, yes, I timed it). And, it needs time to be with the chicken before serving. So, when there is 10 mins left on the timer, turn the heat on high under the broccoli. When the timer goes off, remove the rice from the heat, leave covered. Remove the broccoli from the steamer and mix with the chicken and vegetables, turn off the heat and cover. Allow everything to rest for 5 mins. Now, everything is ready to serve, Sesame seeds are a nice garnish for the chicken.
Fluff the rice and plate, spoon the chicken and vegetables over the rice, and, there you have teriyaki chicken and broccoli. Thank you for reading and enjoy dinner