forgot to take a photo: the best chicken & rice dish ever

This is one of those times where I have to apologize in advance for the lack of food photos.

I made a saucy chicken dish with sticky Japanese rice the other day and was so riveted in shoveling the food in my pie-hole that I did not stop to take a photo.

That being said, I will not leave you without some kind of image to swoon over. Here is a photo of my dashing dog Dexter, whose nose twitches every time I cook meat. The day I made this chicken dish, he stood in the kitchen watching me the entire time, waiting to receive a morsel of chicken meat. He got a dog biscuit instead.

What this recipe lacks in food images, it makes up with BIG flavour. I promise you that much.

You start by buying good quality chicken parts. I used organic chicken thighs. Also, I recommend you use good quality olive oil. Not to rub it in but my olive oil is imported from Greece and it kicks butt. It’s dark green, opaque and thick like honey. This tinned gallon of olive oil sits in  a corner of the kitchen and I use a plastic syphon every few weeks to fill up a small mason jar, which I then keep on my kitchen counter. Anyway, get yourself some good olive oil is what I’m saying.

Ingredients (makes 3 servings)

3 organic skinless, boneless chicken thighs

3 tbs olive oil for sautéing 

4 cloves garlic, sliced

2 small onions, chopped

1  1/2 cups canned plain tomato sauce

2 tsp freeze-dried  basil

1 tbs dried Greek oregano

pinch salt

fresh ground pepper

1 tbs balsamic vinegar

1 tsp honey

some water, if needed

• 1 cup (or so) of cooked sticky rice based on package directions

Directions

1) Heat oil in frying pan, Add chopped garlic and onions and sauté. Once the onions & garlic are soft and golden, add the pieces of chicken to the frying pan. You can cut down the thighs or leave them whole. I sliced my chicken thighs into thick ribbons. It’s just easier to stir this way.

2) Allow the chicken to cook for approximately 20 minutes before adding the tomato puree. Feel free to add more (or less) tomato sauce. You may need to add some water to the pan if things are getting a bit dry and scorched.

3) Add the dry basil, dry Greek oregano, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and honey to the sauce. Stir everything until all herbs are mixed in nicely. Place a cover on the pan and allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Make sure there is enough liquid in there at all times.

4) In the meantime you can prepare your sticky rice following the instructions on the package. Spoon the rice into a bowl and top with the chicken mixture. Dig in and you can thank me later.

I reached tomato sauce nirvana with this recipe. It was that good. My husband was fortunate enough to take the leftovers to work with him the next day and again(!) raved about how good the food was.

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