Cheesy Skillet Chicken and Rice with Green Beans

What a dish! This yummy concotion came from Melanie at My Kitchen Cafe, and when I saw it I knew it would be an instant hit! Rice, chicken, and cheese- who can resist? Even my veggie hating husband and brother-in-law gobbled this up with no complaint and even went back for more! Plus, it's a one pot/pan meal, so that means less clean up! The only changes I made was that (1) I cooked the chicken completely in the first step, then diced it and added the diced chicken where Melanie added the whole chicken breasts to finish cooking, and (2) when I drained the "oil" out of the pan, I actually saved it since it contained juices from cooking the chicken and used it as part of the chicken stock you add in later. If you would rather use canned mushrooms, you could just add them at the end with the green beans, but the fresh were great and cooked up beautifully. This was so good and will definitetly be hitting our table again!

Cheesy Skillet Chicken and Rice with Green Beans

*Serves 4-6

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)

Salt and ground black pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used olive oil)

1 medium onion, chopped

8 ounces white button mushrooms, brushed clean and quartered or sliced

4 medium garlic cloves, finely minced or pressed through a garlic press

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

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.

Teriyaki Rice

This dish was so delicious! It was my first time making brown rice, and while it took way longer than it was supposed to for it to cook (I'm sure due to my lack of ability), it was flavorful and well worth the wait! The teriyaki flavor was not overpowering at all. While I plan to keep practicing cooking brown rice, you can make this with long grain white rice and the cooking time will be about half as that of the brown rice. I also added 1 large chicken breast, cooked and diced, to the rice once it was done to make it a more substantial meal. Any other meat would work as well. I also added the whole red pepper into the rice because it would have gone to waste if I didn't. Next time, I'll still add the whole pepper, but I'll leave out the red pepper flakes. It was pretty spicy with both of these elements!

Teriyaki Rice
from Healthy Meals in Minutes

1 tsp vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced (I used about 1/4 tsp garlic powder)
1 tsp minced fresh ginger or 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 medium red bell pepper, diced (about 1/2 cup; I used the whole pepper for about 2/3 cup)
1 cup brown rice
2 cups chicken broth**
1 Tbl soy sauce
2 tsp packed brown sugar
1/8 tsp crushed hot red pepper flakes
chopped green onion for garnish

In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger. Cook for 1 minute. Add red pepper; cook for 1 minute. Stir in brown rice and broth; bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low.

Simmer rice until liquid is absorbed, about 40 minutes. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, brown sugar, and red pepper flakes. Mix well. Add soy sauce mixture to rice mixture; cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.

Place rice in serving dish. Sprinkle green onion over rice. Serve immediately.

Variations: Add cooked chopped or shredded meat to the rice and heat through. I think it would also be good with some other vegetables mixed in, like broccoli.

**You can use white rice, it will just take around 20 minutes for the liquid to be absorbed instead of 40 minutes.