This one-dish meal makes use of inexpensive, flavorful chicken thighs and lots of pantry staples. We love the versatility of this dish. It's definitely open to lots of variations. It's a weeknight mainstay in the homes of several of the folks at Red Stick Spice Company. Assemble and refrigerate this casserole in the morning. Then tuck this dish into the oven, and use the time to put together a salad, tend to homework or just put your feet up. In an hour, you'll have a warm, hearty, delicious meal. Makes great leftovers, too!
Ingredients:
1-2 Tbl Rosemary Extra Virgin Olive Oil
6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
salt and pepper
1 cup brown rice*
1-3/4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1/2 cup oil-packed sun dried tomatoes, drained and julienned
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Drizzle Rosemary Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a 9X13 baking dish. Season the chicken thighs, on both sides, with salt, pepper and It's Greek to Me Blend. Place the chicken thighs, skin side up, in the baking dish leaving room around each piece. Pour the rice into the dish around (but not on top of) the chicken thighs. Place the artichoke hearts around the chicken thighs on top of the rice. Arrange the sundried tomatoes in the same way. Pour the chicken stock into the pan. Cover and bake for 1 hour or until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink inside and the rice is tender.
Remove the foil and turn on the broiler. Place the pan under the broiler to crisp the chicken skin--2-4 minutes.
*A note about the rice...we used a brown and wild rice blend that gave the dish a nice, nutty texture. There are lots of brown rice combination in the supermarkets that make for very interesting and delicious results! White rice can be used but the cooking time would be reduced to 30-40 minutes. If using white rice, you should brown the chicken in a skillet first to get the cooking process started. Because white rice cooks more quickly, there is a chance the thighs will not be cooked completely through if you don't brown first.