Broccoli Cheddar Chicken with Saffron Rice

Spicin' and Dicin'
Flavoring your world - one spice blend at a time.

Not sure what to make for dinner tonight? Try this easy and TASTY chicken and rice recipe! It's like fried chicken and broccoli cheddar soup had a delicious baby smothered in cheese.

Seasonings of choice: El Jefe's 5-Pepper Salt & Saffron

Ingredients

• 4 cups water
• 2-3 chicken breasts - pounded thin
• 2 cups jasmine rice
• 2 cups all-purpose flour - divided
• 2 1/2 cups milk - divided
• 1 cup frozen broccoli - thawed and chopped
• 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese - shredded
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tsp El Jefe's 5-Pepper Salt spice blend
• 1 tsp garlic - minced
• 3-4 threads saffron
• salt to taste

Preparation

For the Chicken and Rice:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheet with nonstick aluminum foil. If you don't have nonstick foil, greasing the sheet with oil or butter will do just fine.

Place one chicken breast at a time on cutting board and cover with plastic wrap. Use a meat mallet to pound out to about 1/2 inch thickness. The chicken I had on hand was rather large so I only used 2 breasts. You can use more to suit your preference.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour (save 1 Tbsp flour for sauce) and El Jefe seasoning. Set aside.

In another medium mixing bowl, combine sour cream and 1 cup milk. Set aside.

Coat chicken breast first in the flour mixture, then into the milk and sour cream, and once more into flour.

Heat vegetable oil in large skillet to med-hi.

While oil is heating up, add 2 cups rice, 4 cups water, and saffron threads into a large pot and heat to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 8-10 minutes.

Fry chicken in skillet 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown. Place on baking sheet and bake for 6-7 minutes.

For the Sauce:

While chicken and rice are cooking, add frozen broccoli, with splash of water, to microwave safe bowl and microwave for 3-4 minutes until thawed. You can use fresh broccoli instead, I only had frozen at the time.

Heat a medium size pan to med-hi (I just poured the oil into a small dish to cool and re-used the same pan). Add butter, minced garlic, stir. Add 1 Tbsp flour and stir together to make a roux (about 1-2 minutes). Slowly stir in the remaining milk, heat to low boil then reduce to simmer.

Stir in cheddar cheese until sauce has thickened. Stir in broccoli. Salt and pepper to taste.

Put it Together:

Remove chicken from oven. I had enough to cut ours into roughly 5 - 3" pieces. Turn off heat to rice. Stir rice and add salt to taste. Layer on plate: rice, chicken, topped with cheese sauce. ENJOY!

This recipe makes roughly 5-6 servings. We are a family of 4 and had enough left over for 2 more servings. To stretch the leftovers, I diced the remaining chicken breast and divided it along with the remaining rice and cheese sauce.