I wrote a book about quick meals but the reality of it is that having a small child brings new meaning to quick cooking. Nate is still on the two naps a day schedule. He usually sleeps for one to one and a half hours per nap. Two to three hours sounds like a lot of time but when you factor in bills, laundry, making dinner, washing dishes, vacuuming, and work it feels like no time at all.
I’ve become even better at cooking with little time. And, I can make a meal out of almost nothing. It used to be easy to run to the store to pick up what I needed to make exactly what I had in mind. Now, going to the store is an event. I’ve learned out of necessity to make do with what’s on hand. It’s almost always just as good, and often better, than what I had intended.
Having a well stocked pantry is key. If you don’t know how to stock your kitchen or are wondering what you could add to make it even better, check out my Meal Planning Made Simple series. It’s filled with details about what I keep on hand.
Another key is having the right kitchen tools. I used my Le Creuset enameled cast iron braiser for this one-pot meal. The braiser goes from stove top to oven to tabletop for serving. It’s so much easier on clean-up. If you don’t have an stovetop-to-oven suitable cooking vessel, you can transfer the mixture to a casserole dish and pop it in the oven.
To make sure I get dinner done on time, I always have a plan for dinner when the day starts though my meal plans are less detailed than they used to be. Sometimes I mentally scan what I have on hand and put together a meal. Other times I flip through a cookbook and find something that works with what’s in my refrigerator. And, of course there’s my favorite blogs and Pinterest, too.
What are your tricks for getting dinner on the table?
A simple stove-top to oven one-skillet dish full of flavor.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup sweet rice flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ancho chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 4 - 6 organic chicken thighs
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups cooked pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can fire roasted tomatoes, preferably Muir Glen Organic, with juice
- 1 cup organic frozen corn
- 3/4 cup chicken stock, or more
- 2/3 cup long grain brown rice
- 2 cloves of garlic, grated on a microplane
- 1 - 2 limes, cut into fourths
- 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large Ziploc bag, combine sweet rice flour, ancho chili powder, sea salt, and ground black pepper. Add chicken thighs and shake until coated.
- Heat the olive oil in a large, oven-safe skillet or a large pan. Brown the chicken on both sides. Remove from the skillet and cover to keep warm.
- Add the beans, fire roasted tomatoes, frozen corn, 3/4 cup chicken stock, brown rice, and garlic to the skillet. If there is not enough liquid to cover the rice, add a bit more stock.
- Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, add chicken on top of the rice mixture, cover and place in the oven. If you're not using an oven-safe skillet, carefully transfer rice mixture to a casserole dish, place chicken on top, cover, and place in the oven.
- Bake for 45 - 50 minutes, until the chicken is no longer pink and the rice is tender.
- Squeeze 1/2 of a lime over the finished dish. Garnish with cilantro if desired and serve hot with additional wedges of lime.
Wendie
posted on February 27, 2013 at 11:45 am
If I dont eat dark meat, could I use chicken breast with skin and bone in (Im thinking to keep it moist) in the dish? Wondering if it would be too dry?
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Amy Reply:
March 10th, 2013 at 11:26 pm
@Wendie, I’d leave the skin on just to be on the safe side.
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Trish
posted on February 27, 2013 at 12:01 pm
Oh, I’m pinning this one! Thanks, Amy. This looks and sounds great. I don’t eat meat, but my husband does on the weekends, and this sounds like a perfect weekend meal I could make for him. (My pastry chef work is PRIMARILY weekends, so sometimes dinner is NOT what I want to be doing on Saturday night…although I’m sure it doesn’t hold a candle to caring for a one-year-old baby.) The beans and rice around the chicken would be PERFECT for me to eat as well. Wouldn’t have to make two separate meals…I could just grab some sprouted grain tortillas and call it a meal. Wonderful idea, thanks! xx
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Amy Reply:
March 10th, 2013 at 11:27 pm
@Trish, That’s smart. I didn’t think of it like that but, yep, as long as you don’t mind having meat cooked in the dish you could have a meatless meal.
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Jenny L.
posted on February 27, 2013 at 12:40 pm
Sweet rice flour is the best. I use it for so many things. For a sauce or to thicken soup it does not clump at all. I coat chicken with it and then fry the chicken. My son is not gluten-free but it is his favorite chicken. Can’t wait to try this recipe!
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Amy Reply:
March 10th, 2013 at 11:27 pm
@Jenny L., I love sweet rice flour too! It is great for so many different applications.
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Kristen @ Smithspirations
posted on February 27, 2013 at 2:24 pm
This looks amazing! I don’t have all the ingredients on hand, but I think that I could do a few substitutions and really have a great meal! Thanks for the idea!
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Amy Reply:
March 10th, 2013 at 11:28 pm
@Kristen @ Smithspirations, I think that’s one of the best things about a dish like this – it’s easy to make substitutions. Not a fussy recipe by any means. Enjoy!
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Pat @ Elegantly, Gluten-Free
posted on February 27, 2013 at 3:20 pm
Hi Amy –
So many of my planning skills were learned when my kids were babies – I didn’t know much before then, but planning was the only way to survive those years! Quick planning, and then remembering it in spite of many distractions…!
Your ideas are so helpful — and your recipe looks delicious! I think my family would like this a lot if I can figure out how to hold the ancho chili powder from my husband’s plateful
Have a great week!
Pat
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Amy Reply:
March 6th, 2013 at 11:04 pm
@Pat @ Elegantly, Gluten-Free, You’re so right about planning quickly and then making sure to remember what you thought about. Sometimes the changes come so fast that my brain goes blank. I am working on a simple and quick system for meal planning with little ones in the home. So necessary!
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Adrienne
posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:05 am
Gorgeous photo and it really looks like our kind of meal. Thanks for sharing!
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Amy Reply:
March 6th, 2013 at 10:58 pm
@Adrienne, It’s so easy. And it’s yummy. I need to dig through your site for meals. Have been looking for new ideas lately.
xo
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Iris
posted on March 1, 2013 at 1:58 am
Love the look of this dish! I’m cooking for my sister’s family right now while they get used to having a newborn, so I need more one-pot dishes like this. I’m starting to get bored with my own recipes!
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Amy Reply:
March 6th, 2013 at 10:54 pm
@Iris, Me too, Iris! I am worn out with my tried-and-true dinner recipes so I’ve been trying new things. This was one of the results. Yummy, too. How old is the new baby? Boy or girl?
xo
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Karen Neff
posted on March 3, 2013 at 3:27 pm
Amy,
I made this dish last night and it was quite satisfying. I assumed that you meant 1/4 tsp. black pepper instead of 1/4 cup! Also, it did not state a temperature for the oven so I set it at 350 degrees and it seemed to work well.
Thanks for another great recipe.
Karen
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Amy Reply:
March 6th, 2013 at 10:52 pm
@Karen Neff, Thanks for catching my sleep-deprived errors! I updated the recipe and, yes, I bake this at 350F. Glad you liked it. I love the way the fresh lime juice brings it all together.
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Alaine @ My GF DF Living
posted on March 4, 2013 at 8:25 am
This recipe looks delicious. I may have to make this after work this week. Looks too good not too!
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Nicolette
posted on March 22, 2013 at 4:54 am
Hi Amy,
I am assuming that the chicken used in this recipe is bone-in chicken thighs?Am I right? I just want to make sure… cook times can so different between boneless and bone-in. This recipe sounds delicious!
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Amy Reply:
March 25th, 2013 at 1:02 pm
@Nicolette, I used boneless. I have a hard time finding bone-in organic chicken thighs. You could use bone-in; you’d just have to cook it longer.
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Verda
posted on April 2, 2013 at 11:02 pm
Hi Amy – This dish is really great. I cut the chicken up in chunks because I was taking it to a potluck dinner. Everyone loved it. I do have a question though. Did you use canned pinto beans, if so did you use the liquid from the beans along with the liquid from the tomatoes and the broth. The ratio 3/4 c. broth to 2/3 cup rice didn’t seem right. Brown rice usually takes 2 x the amount of rice for the liquid. I wound up using quite a bit more broth and was a little confused. Though this recipe is quite forgiving and can be adjusted easily. Turned out great. But wondered about the liquids.
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Amy Reply:
April 3rd, 2013 at 8:17 pm
@Verda, Great question! I added some verbiage to make the recipe more clear. Yes, I only used 3/4 cup of stock because I used the tomatoes and their juice. The beans are drained and rinsed. So, between the stock, the tomato juice, and the juice that the chicken makes as it cooks there is the right amount to make perfect rice. I’m so glad this turned out well for you!
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Micaela @MindfulMomma
posted on April 26, 2013 at 11:27 am
Mmmmmm……this one’s going on my “must make” list! Love that it’s a one-pot meal.
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