Chicken & Rice

It seems the only creating I have been able to manage 

aside from the mess in my house from 

spring cleaning is cooking!! 

When I get home from my 8-5 job I get pretty preoccupied with the extra sunshine & by the time I get around to cooking. . .  it feels like it's crunch time.

The other night I made some Rice & beans (Arroz y Gondules) & some filleted chicken thighs

 let me just give myself a huge pat on the back 

because this chicken was some of the BEST chicken I made in a LONG time!

 To make the chicken I let the chicken merry in a bowl with cumin, paprika, garlic salt, pepper & chili powder with a 1/2 a fresh squeezed lime juice.  I don't measure seasonings so you will have to put in the seasoning according to your taste.  While that sat so the flavors could get all friendly with each other, I set my skillet just slightly past the med high mark & added just a little olive oil & waited for it to get nice & hot. Once I felt the pan was ready, I laid the chicken in skin side down (YES I use skin. . it gives it good crunch & protects the meat form getting dry & nasty) If you prefer you can remove the skin & cook it just the same.  The most important thing to remember is NOT to touch the chicken & push it around & move it.  Let it cook on one side until you can lift it easily. . . . if it seems stuck leave it there to cook longer (I know it will take every ounce of your being to do this but trust me you will get a much better product if you leave it alone) once it does lift easy, go ahead & flip it & let the other side cook. 

Because these do not have the bone, they cook pretty fast. If you have your pan set just right you can cook these crispy on the stove top without overcooking or burning (no one wants to eat under cooked chicken)

a helpful hint is If you think the outside is getting done too fast & the inside is still raw....just pop it in the oven to finish up .  The oven will have less direct heat on the outside.

The finished product was AMAZING.  It was slightly crunchy on the outside & very tender on the inside.  It was just the right amount of salty tang & a subtle smokey taste from the cumin & paprika.  The color of the chicken was pretty too.  The smokey saltiness of the chicken was great with the rice, 

This will be another keeper recipe! 

It took me a long time to perfect my rice recipe & I am not quite ready to give that up but I will tell you the best beans to use are pigeon peas! I also want to say that they are not very easy to find here in JOMO but I searched long & hard & found my source & I am thrilled that I am able to make this rice that we fondly call Puerto Rican Rice at my house.

After dinner we wanted some mile shakes but we had NO ice cream!! I know right. . . .Tragedy!

So I pulled out my Awesome Ninja Blender because it does everything!

I poured some frozen strawberries, Milk & Honey in & Whipped it up

I can't lie...... it wasn't as good as an ice cream shake (probably due to the lack of fat & sugar)

I felt like it was missing that something, something so I will be on a mission to revisit this in a later post after I find something to make this healthier shake taste better. 

Do you have any healthy shake recipes or tips you can share with me? I would love to hear from you!

Happy Creating~