Tasty Tuesday: Island Chicken

Personally, I think that this dish is positively fabulous! Dan thinks it's good, but he's not as gung-ho as I am, and it's unique enough that I don't make it more than once a season. But it's delicious, and it tastes decadent, though it's actually rather healthy.

It has come to my attention that "real" food blogs have pictures, so this time I brought along my sexy new camera, so that I could document the whole process for all y'all. I am rather accident prone, and Dan voiced his concerns about me having the camera in the kitchen, but I reminded him of our 4-year accident coverage policy. The camera is safe!

So... let's begin!

Here's what you'll need:
That's as many chicken breasts as people you're serving (I did two, but you can do up to 4), salt, pepper, butter, orange juice concentrate, 2 bay leaves, lime juice (or a lime, if you have one), 2 or 3 bananas, and some roasted, unsalted almonds, and brown rice.
Oh, and a good looking audience helps, too!

Using a back burner, start by making enough rice that everyone can have about a cup of cooked rice. For me, that means boiling 2 1/2 cups of water and adding a cup of brown rice. Cover it, and let it simmer for 50 minutes.
Now melt 1 T butter in a large skillet on your main burner. Salt and pepper your chicken on both sides, and cook them on medium heat until browned on both sides. They don't have to be thoroughly browned over every inch.
Now add 1/2 cup of water, 1 t salt, 1/2 t pepper, 3/4 cup orange juice concentrate, and the bay leaves.
Bring it to a boil, then cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
Flip the chicken, then re-cover and simmer for another 10 minutes. Meanwhile, slice the bananas.
Remove the chicken from the skillet and keep it warm. I like to stick it in the microwave, where it is insulated and out of the way.
Bring the liquid in the skillet to a boil, and boil it for five minutes, stirring pretty much constantly. Then add your bananas and and 2-3 tablespoons of lime juice.
Heat it for a couple minutes, then you're ready to go!

To serve, put a generous helping of rice on each plate, followed by a piece of chicken. Spoon the sauce over the chicken, and sprinkle almonds on top.
Enjoy!

Want to print it? Copy and paste the following to a Word document:

Island Chicken

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups water
1 cup brown rice
1 tablespoon butter
2 chicken breasts (could do up to 4 w/o doubling recipe)
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
6 ounces orange juice concentrate
½ cup water
2 bay leaves
2-3 tablespoons lime juice (or a lime, if you have one)
2 or 3 bananas, sliced
½ cup roasted, unsalted almonds

In a medium saucepan on a back burner, boil the water. Add rice, cover, and simmer on medium low heat for 50 minutes.

At about 40 minutes, melt the butter in a large skillet on the main burner. Salt and pepper the chicken on both sides, and brown both sides on medium heat. Now add salt, pepper, orange juice, water, and bay leaves. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, flip, and simmer, still covered, for another 10 minutes.

Remove chicken to a plate and keep warm. Boil the remaining sauce for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, then add lime juice and sliced bananas. Warm gently for a couple minutes, then serve chicken on top of rice, topped with sauce and almonds.

If you make this recipe, please leave me a comment letting me know how it turns out for you! Be sure to come back next week for more picture-filled recipe goodness!