570. Chicken on Brown Rice with Nuts

Simplicity is so underrated.

This dish is a comforting and texturally-complex one that is greatly coveted and yet it is so simple.
A bed or rice, scattered with some boiled chicken, topped with a mixture of fried nuts.
I used brown rice because I am so in love with it at the moment. Regular white rice would do.
I also boiled a whole chicken, but boiling only chicken breasts or thighs would also serve just as well.
This Lebanese dish was picked up from Chicho's Kitchen, and she used pinenuts instead of cashews, so really just use whatever you want. It's a sort of variation on the Iraqi Chicken Turnover.

Ingredients:

2 cups brown rice
1 whole chicken
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
4 bay leaves
half an onion
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup cashews
1/4 cup blanched almonds
1/4 cup unsalted pistachios
1/2 tsp allspice
pepper

Method:

Wash the chicken, place in a pot filled with cold water, add 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, 4 bay leaves and half an onion.
Bring to a boil, skimming off the scum with a skimmer, then simmer gently for about 1 hour and a half until the chicken is tender.
Remove skin and de-bone it.
Pull meat apart and place it back in the chicken broth to keep it hot and moist.
In a pan, heat the butter and fry the pine nuts, pistachios and almonds until golden brown.
In a pot, combine brown rice, allspice, a teaspoon of salt, half a teaspoon of pepper, and 4 cups of the hot stock.
Stir and bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 35-40 minutes.
Place the rice in a serving plate, cover with pieces of chicken and sprinkle with almonds, pine nuts and pistachios.
You can serve it with a green salad or plain yogurt.

صحة و عافية