Rice and Chicken

Having a brain injury changes how you go through your day, for me, how I process and organize my thoughts is different from before my TBI. It takes a lot more energy and effort to organize my thoughts, which is ok if I have time. I find I plan longer now, I thought about this recipe for several days. Cooking presents challenges for me after my accident, following recipes or staying organized can put my head in overload. I have had to learn to break down my cooking process into stages this allows me to take short breaks and regroup.

My recipes come from ingredients from my own refrigerator and cupboard.

Rice and Chicken
Tonight I am trying a new recipe for our family, Rice with Chicken. I like coming up with new recipes because it allows me to be creative, there are no rules. Well there are a few rules, and they all have to do with who I’m serving. Our son is autistic, so ingredients and seasoning become a factor. I will share a few tips as we go through the cooking process to explain how I work around these challenges so that we don’t have to open up a restaurant in our kitchen to satisfy everyone’s needs.

Ingredients:
Chicken Breast (1 per person)
Rice (enough to make 2 cups)
Mushrooms (1/2 pound)
Celery (4 sticks)
Garlic (5 cloves minced)
Onion (1 medium)
Corn (1 1/2 cups)

My go to cooking appliance is our electric frying pan, I like the heat control and the ease of cleanup.

Step One
I like to use Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast. A protein substitute could easily be made here, Turkey, Sausage or Tofu are a few. It helps to know who you are serving for portions size. 1 Breast per person is what I use. I cut the Breasts into cubes, what I would call bite size, again I am thinking about who I am serving. I season the Chicken with ground pepper and sea salt.

Seasoning I sprinkle a quick pass over the Chicken with Sea Salt and Ground Pepper. My family is not one that cares for a lot of spice in their food and for the health concerns of some I am careful with amount of Salt I use. Our son has never like any kind of sauces on his food this includes condiments. Cooking for a family with this kind of dynamic has it’s challenges and rules. But Rules change health concerns and likes and dislikes change. There was a time our house that saw a Hawaiian Pizza with no sauce, now it comes with sauce.

Step Two
I give the Mushrooms a quick rinse to remove any dirt, if you like, canned Mushrooms could be used. If it is easier, use sliced Mushrooms, I buy the whole Mushrooms, they are usually a little less expensive and it only takes a minute to slice them.

I used a medium white Onion, diced.

Celery adds a nice texture, colour, aroma and flavour to the dish. I cut up 4 sticks

I used 5 cloves of Garlic, minced.

Tip this is for anyone with picky eaters. I cook down the Mushrooms, Celery, Garlic and Onion in a separate pot with a little Becel. I add the mixture to the Chicken after I portion out Chicken for our son. This does create one extra pot to clean but now I am only making one meal.

Step Three
The Rice I use is Instant Rice. It is a time saver. Long Grain Rice, Brown or Wild Rice could be used if it your preference. I substituted the water with Chicken Broth for a little extra flower. I made 2 cups of Rice. The Rice is added to the Chicken Mixture after the Rice is set. A portion of the Rice is saved for our son.

Step Four
The Corn I used is frozen Peaches n Cream, 1.5 cups. A portion is plated for our son when the heated Corn is ready and the rest is added to the Rice and Chicken

Step Five
Cover the pan and allow all the flavours to blend together. Reduce the heat 200F 10-15 minutes.