One Pot Wonder: Dutch Oven Chicken & Rice

One-pot dishes are the best. You throw in a whole bunch of ingredients for a complete meal, and you only have to wash one pot (fine, maybe a spoon, knife and cutting board too)!

Pretty much any combination of vegetables, grain/legumes and protein can work so feel free to be adventurous! If you don't have a dutch oven, either than highly recommending you get one, you can also do this is a large saucepan and baking dish, but you will have more to wash :)

Note: Some readers have asked for more pictures of my preparation/cooking in addition to the finished product. Please let me know what you think!

Dutch Oven Chicken & Rice

1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions, quartered and sliced thinly
4 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
8 oz cremini mushrooms
1 Tbsp yellow mustard seeds
3 carrots, sliced into rounds
12 brussel sprouts, quartered
1 cup white basmati rice
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 bay leaves
2 chicken quarters

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in dutch oven and cook onions over low heat until soft and browned, 10-12 minutes (add garlic and mustard seed after 5 minutes). Add mushrooms and cook until they are soft and have released their juices, 4-5 minutes.

2. Add brussel sprouts, carrots and 1/2 cup of stock. Bring to a boil and cook covered 2-3 minutes. Add rice, remaining stock, salt, pepper & bay leaves, stirring to combine.

3. Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper and add to pot, slightly submerging in liquid. Raise heat and bring to a boil, then cover and transfer to oven. Bake at 350 degrees 35-40 minutes until rice has absorbed all liquid and chicken is cooked through. Remove bay leaves before serving.

The cost:
onions: .69
garlic: .10
mushrooms: 1.99
carrots: .99
brussel sprouts: 1.89
rice: .99
stock: .99
chicken: 3.89

Grand total: $11.53 (5.77/person)

Recipe Remix: Smoked Paprika & Mustard Seed Chicken (Dutch Oven Braised)

I have become a huge fan of mustard seeds. Not only do they add great flavor to a dish, but they also lend a nice crunchy texture, but they soften with cooking so they aren't too hard. For now I'm just using yellow mustard seeds which are pretty mild, but when those are done I am totally going to try brown ones which are much spicier.

This chicken is similar to a previous recipe, although I think the addition of white wine really makes all of the flavors pop. This dish also inaugurated my new dutch oven (thanks Mom :)). If you have any other recipes for dutch ovens please feel free to share!

Smoked Paprika & Mustard Seed Chicken (Dutch Oven Braised)

1 Tbsp vegetable oil
6 scallions, chopped
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp yellow mustard seeds
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 lb boneless chicken breasts
1/4 cup white wine

Directions:

1. Heat oil in dutch oven and saute scallions until soft, 4-5 minutes.
2. Combine paprika, mustard seeds, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a bowl. Pat chicken breasts dry, then dip into spice mixture, rubbing and massaging into chicken.
3. Add chicken to pan and brown chicken, 1-2 minutes on each side. Add white wine to deglaze pan, moving the chicken around to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom. Cover and cook over low heat 6-8 minutes chicken is no longer pink.

The cost:
scallions: 1.19
chicken: 5.99

Grand total: $7.18; serves 2 (add brown rice & steamed broccoli for a complete meal)