Curry Chicken and Brown Rice

It is virtually (but not entirely) impossible for me to plan blog posts. As soon as I think I know where I am going, a stroke of genius hits me and sends me reeling in another direction. Today that direction is towards the kitchen.

It is unexpectedly cold here in Illinois, so even though I had been in grilling mode, I felt the need for a hot, wholesome meal last night. I turned to a relatively new-to-me dish that really delivers in the comfort food department. Although this is only the second time I have made this chicken casserole, I know this recipe is going into the permanent file.  Do not let the curry scare you. I was a little intimidated because the only curry I am aware of eating had been at restaurants in dishes that tasted very exotic to me. I figured the kids would hate it. This dish tastes and smells wonderful. Trust me. (in truth, MVP picks out the raisins, but so what!)



As always, I have made this recipe printable so all you have to do is click the title to print it out.



Curry Chicken and Rice

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp salt (or to taste)

1 medium onion, chopped chunky

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger 

2 tsp. curry powder

1 1/2 C. chicken broth

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/4 C. golden raisins

4C cooked basmati rice (brown, if you have it)

1 large or about 1 1/2 red bell peppers, chopped into bite sized chunks

1/4 C. slivered almonds

Cook rice according to directions. Do NOT overcook the rice, as it has to bake too.

Heat oven to 350.

Coat 9x13" dish with Pam.

Saute chicken in olive oil and season with salt and pepper, as you like it. (I leave mine pretty bland.)

Remove from the skillet, but keep it warm.

Add chopped onion and ginger to skillet. Cook 3 minutes.

Add curry. Cook 1 min.

Add broth and heat to simmer. Add chickpeas, raisins, almonds and chicken. Cook for 1 min.

Spoon rice into prepared dish.

Spoon curry and chicken mix over the top of the rice. Try to distribute evenly.

Scatter chopped peppers over the top.

Cover with foil.

Bake COVERED for about 40 minutes. You can choose to remove the foil for the last few minutes to dry it out some if you like the texture of baked rice.

I completely forgot to take a picture after it was baked (but it looks almost the same) or after it was plated, since it was being gobbled up so fast!

The taster-testers were CRAZY-happy!

**NOTE** 

This blog post title refers to BROWN rice because that is what the original recipe called for, but I cannot find brown basmati in this one-horse town, so I changed the recipe. Sorry for the confusion. 

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