Rice bowls are a simple and filling meal that you can make on the cheap!
I remember being a little girl and making this meal with my dad. I also remember his words of advice. "Elyssa, you can put anything in here! It's so easy!"
Sir Dad doesn't lie. This meal is easy!
Since moving to college, this meal has become something that I return to time and time again! After making this the other night, I realized that this is a dish other college students should know how to make so that they too can be saved from the evils of cafeteria food.
Let's get started!
Elyssa Day
Ingredients? Rice. chicken, eggs, and whatever else you want. Personally, I would have added vegetables if there were any in my fridge.
Rice is relatively inexpensive! According to the Dillons grocery website, a five pound bag of rice will cost you $2.19. To really save money, I recommend attending a Christmas White Elephant Party two years in the past and opening a gift containing forty pounds of rice. That may be just me though.
When you buy chicken, I recommend buying a whole chicken and breaking it down into parts to store in the freezer. You can read more about it here, but basically, you'll be saving a heck-of-a ton of money for the amount of meat you're getting! I also recommend buying a chicken that doesn't have the organs still attached (unless you want them! Some people do!) Just don't be like me watching this video on how to break it down and freaking out because the video doesn't tell you what to do with the organs and your chicken has lots of them.
Eggs are a great staple too, and you should always have them in your fridge. My recommendation for eggs is to be the self-titled crazy chicken lady and just grab a dozen every time you visit home.
Are you ready to cook?
The first thing you should do is thaw your chicken. If you're a good noodle who plans your meals out in advance, you'll know to place your chicken in the fridge the night before so that it will be thawed by the time you're ready to use it.
However, if you're an equally good noodle who spontaneously says one night, "I want chicken and rice," you can simply place your Tupperware that's holding the chicken in a sink full of hot water. Once you set it in there, forget about it for a while. If you can spontaneously want rice, you can spontaneously find something else to do for a bit.
Once you remember that you have chicken thawing in the sink, you can set to work on steaming your rice. I learned how watching We Are The Strange on YouTube helped me go through the process. I like her video because, for starters, it doesn't use specific cups or measurements! Wooo!
Secondly, it didn't require a rice maker! If you have a rice maker, of course, use it. However, if you're like me and don't own a rice maker but want to get rid of forty pounds of rice, watch her walk you through the steps!
Elyssa Day
One more thing about the rice:
Do not remove the lid while the rice is cooking. Trust the process.
I repeat:
Do not remove the lid. Trust the process.
Okay, hopefully at this point, your chicken is thawed enough to throw into the pan. Grab a pan and heat that buddy up. This is where you can start doing whatever you want. Have some butter? Throw it in. What seasonings do you want? Throw it in. I used oregano, onion powder, and Italian seasoning. Cook, cook, and keep cooking. With your spatula, split the chicken into pieces. Stop cooking when you want to, as long as there is no pink left on your chicken.
Again, do not leave any pink on the chicken.
When you're done, toss those bad boys on a plate and cover them with a pan lid to trap the heat inside and keep them from getting cold.
Elyssa Day
At this point, if there's anything else you want to cook, do it! Want to add some fresh vegetables? OK! Do what you want! Is there something else you want to add that I haven't thought of because I only received four hours and nine minutes of sleep last night? Go for it! You're in charge!
The last thing you want to cook are the eggs. Depending on how much rice you're making, I recommend two. However, you may be a self-titled crazy chicken lady and the last dozen you grabbed from home was months ago. In this case, do the egg float test and pray that God will provide you one safe egg to eat.
God provides.
Remember: the last things you want to cook in that pan are the actual eggs. As you know, egged pans can be hard to clean. That's why we cook them last, so that when we're done we can just toss it into the sink and let it soak.
Alright! When your timer goes off and your rice is officially done, remove the lid, fluff the rice with a fork, add the chicken, eggs, whatever else, and voila! You're all done!
Elyssa Day
One thing I did that made this dish absolutely amazing was adding a peanut sauce that had been sitting in my fridge. I got it with a rice roll a month ago, but never used it. After making sure it was still safe to consume, I tested it on a spoonful of my creation.
Oh. My. Goodness.
Amazing.
If you have any soy sauce or other similar sauce packets, I totally recommend adding it! It gives the dish some moisture and adds whole new flavors!
Happy cooking, and bon appetit!
