My dearest friend Salma whatsapped me a message of her delicious looking lunch while I sat starving at my office desk this afternoon. As a result, I convinced her (didn’t take much, she’s a foodie too :D), to contribute to this blog. Yay me! Yay you! Yay Salma! Lol. Without further ado, her guest post. Though I guess it isn’t much of a guest post because she’s an official author here now too. Hmmm. Anyhow, you know what I mean.
*Over to Salma*
Hey everyone,
I just have one correction to Alia’s intro -I’m an *aspiring* foodie, not quite there yet- anyway, back to lunch.
- 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1/2 tsp. parsley
- 1/4 tsp. spices (بهارات)
- 1 carrot, peeled and grated
- 2 colored bell peppers, cut into small squares
- 1 1/2 cups uncooked jasmine rice, rinsed
- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs, cubed.
- 1 medium onion, chopped.
- Grated cheese (optional, to garnish/taste)
This was actually a two day process for me. I prepared the sauce and marinated the chicken the night before, then cooked the rice and chicken, combined everything, and put it in the over the day of.
- Make the sauce: combine the chicken broth and ½ cup of the milk in a large saucepan. Bring to a low boil. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the flour and seasonings into the milk until a smooth, thick mixture forms. Pour the flour and milk mixture into the saucepan over low heat and stir continuously, whisking as the mixture simmers. Continue to simmer and stir/whisk until the mixture is smooth and thick, 5-10 minutes. Put in the carrots and peppers.
- Marinate the chicken: Marinate the chicken overnight in a mixture of the same seasonings used for the sauce and a chopped onion.
- Make the rice: Cook the rice as per the instructions on the package. I used 5 cups of liquid (2 leftover chicken broth and 3 water) for 3 cups of rice.
- Make the chicken: In a non-stick pot, put a small amount of olive oil, heat, and add the chicken. Let the chicken simmer until it is cooked, stirring frequently.
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.
- Pour some of the sauce into a baking dish and spread it to the sides.
- Pour the rice into the baking dish, evenly. Put the chicken pieces on top, then cover with the sauce.
- Sprinkle on grated cheese and put in the oven for about 20 minutes, just until the cheese melts and the top of the casserole is a golden color.
One thing I would do differently next time is mixing in some of the sauce with the rice before putting it in the baking dish. (I haven’t actually eaten yet so I’m not sure how it will turn out, but I think it will be a little dry. I’ll get back to you on that :D)
Try it out and let me know what you think in the comments 🙂
breakurfast 
How did it turn out Salloum?
It tasted awesome but the rice was a bit too much (I used 3 cups, changed it in the recipe to 1.5)