Chicken And Rice Meal Prep

Instructions

1. Cook’s Note: You want to use a large and wide pot for the chicken, if you don’t have one you can brown the chicken in a cast iron pan and remove it. Use the same pan to cook the veggies follow the recipe up until the point to where the wine has reduced. Then add the chicken, veggies cooked in wine, bay leaf, and chicken stock to a large baking dish covered in tin foil and place in the oven. Follow the remaining instructions. I will put a link to a nice cast iron pot below the recipe.
2. Begin Cooking:
3. For the chicken, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Season chicken with an aggressive amount of salt and a few cracks of pepper on all sides, allow to sit at room temperature for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, prep and chop all of the remaining ingredients. Using a large and wide oven safe pot, pre-heat it over medium-high heat with 1 tablespoon of oil for 2 minutes. Add half of the chicken and allow it to brown for 5-7 minutes without touching it. Flip and repeat. Remove chicken and repeat this process with the remaining chicken. Pour out all but 1-2 tablespoons of oil and rendered chicken fat, add the onions, celery, carrots, oregano, ½ teaspoon salt, and a few cracks of pepper. Lower the heat to medium and cook for 7 minutes, stirring a few times. Add the garlic, and cook another 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook for 3 minutes, stirring a few times to make sure the tomato paste doesn’t burn. Add the wine and use a wooden spoon to scrape all of the sticky bits off the bottom of the pan. Cook until almost all of the wine has evaporated, about 3-4 minutes. Place all of the chicken back in the pot, skin side up, along with the bay leaf and enough chicken stock/broth to come ¾ of the way up the chicken. Bring to a boil, gently stir everything around, place a lid(or tin foil) on the pot, and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, remove the lid and cook another 15 minutes so the sauce can reduce and the chicken can get some color. Remove from oven, add the fresh parsley, set aside.
4. For the rice, place the rice in a strainer and thoroughly wash under cold water for 1 minutes to remove excess starch, set aside. Pre-heat a medium size pot over medium heat along with 1 tablespoon of olive oil for 2 minutes. Add the onions, oregano, ½ teaspoon salt, and a few cracks of pepper. Mix well and cook for 6 minutes, stirring a few times. Add the garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Add the rice and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often so the rice can toast. Add the water, peas, another ½ teaspoon salt, mix well and bring to a boil. Check the water for seasoning, you may need a little more salt. As soon as the water comes to a boil, give the rice one more stir, place the lid on the pot, lower the heat to just above low, and cook for 20 minutes. Make sure the heat is not too high, I set my burner to just above low. When the rice is ready, use a fork, not a spoon, to thoroughly fluff the rice. Add the lemon zest, parsley, hazelnuts, and mix well. Set aside.
5. The chicken and rice will keep in the fridge for 5 days or can be frozen for 2-3 months When reheating, I like to take the lid off, cover the container with tin foil, and place in a 400 F for 10-15 minutes. If you are using a microwave, take the lid off, cover the container with a wet paper towel, this will keep the food moist. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Macros:
653 calories per meal
31.5 grams of fat per meal
41.4 grams of carbs per meal
39 grams of protein per meal
5 grams of fiber per meal