Hidden Veggie Chicken Rice

Woo! My schedule has cleared up so much this week! It is amazing. I've had time to workout and time to get creative with some meals AND get everything done for all my classes!

I've made a version of this rice before (http://natashaskitchen.com/2014/06/26/creamy-chicken-and-rice-recipe-a-one-pot-meal/), but wanted to up my game, especially since I don't have onions and garlic to fall back on for flavor. There's a little bit of savory flavor from the combination of veggies and anchovy paste. Now before you freak out about having anchovies in your rice, just give it a try. It adds such an amazing savory flavor and it doesn't taste fishy, I promise! Plus, this dish is great if you have picky eaters in the house because you can barely even see the zucchini and bell peppers when you chop them up nice and small.

You'll need:

2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2-3 large carrots
1 red bell pepper
2 zucchini
1 tbsp dried chives
1 tbsp anchovy paste (it probably could have used even more)
2 bay leaves
1 cup dry white wine (I used Chardonnay)
5 cups of chicken broth (I only had 1 large container which is enough for 4 cups, so I just added 1 cup of water)
2 cups of uncooked rice (I just used plain long grain white rice)
1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper
2 - 3 tbsp garlic infused olive oil
2 - 3 tbsp regular olive oil

I recommend cooking this in a dutch oven, but if you don't have one, a large pot with a lid will do just fine.

Start by adding the garlic olive oil to your pot, heat it up, and add the chicken.  Season with salt and pepper. Cook until brown on both sides and almost cooked all the way through (it will have plenty more time in the pot to finish cooking)

While the chicken is cooking, prep your veggies. I peeled the carrots and zucchini and cut those and the bell pepper into fairly large pieces and then tossed all of it into my favorite little food processor in batches.  I don't really like large chunks of veggies, I'd rather have all the flavors meld together.

When the chicken is done, pull it aside to a plate.  Add 2 tbsp of regular olive oil to whatever is left in the pot and add all the veggies. Let these cook for about 15 min, stirring occasionally. You want them to get a little bit of color.

While the veggies are cooking, shred the chicken. You can use 2 forks or you can use my favorite technique and put it in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and let it do the work for you.

Add the shredded chicken back in the with the veggies. Add the chives and anchovy paste. Stir everything up and let it cook for about 5 more minutes to get just a smidge more color. Add the wine and scrape the bottom and sides of the pot. Add the bay leaves. Let the alcohol cook off and then add the chicken stock/water.

Bring the liquid to a simmer and then add the rice. Cover the pot and let it cook for about 15 min on med-low heat.

Give it a stir, and once all the liquid is absorbed, add the parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste. If you want a little bit of a kick, add some chili powder. Be sure to find and take out the bay leaves!

Enjoy!