Smothered Chicken and Rice

Chicken is great! So are mushrooms, and cheese! Why not combine them? Smothered chicken is an easy way to make a simple chicken breast into something amazing, and its super easy! Its perfect for those nights where you are tired from the kids running around all day because its been raining and you've been trapped in the home and you want to simply kill them, but instead you will cook something that is simple and delicious. Or say you only have a toaster oven and electric hot plate in your college dorm, its still easy!

Start with preheating your oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken breast in your baking dish and drizzle with EVOO and season with salt and pepper. Bake the chicken for thirty minutes or until the juices run clear.

While the chicken is cooking, you can start on your rice. A good rule of thumb to follow when making rice is 1 cup of rice needs 2 cups of water. 1 cup of rice yields a good serving of rice too! Enough for two or three people. Rinse your rice three times under cold water before cooking it. This helps take any harmful pesticides off of it as well as wash off a layer of starch that can cause the rice to be too sticky. This step is optional but makes for better rice. Place the rice and water in a pot and season with salt and drizzle in a little EVOO to help keep the rice from sticking to the pot. Bring the water to a boil over high heat and lower down to a simmer over medium heat. If you are using an electric oven, you may need to use two burners so the heat transfer can go quicker. Cover the rice tightly and and let it simmer for about 15 minutes until all the water is cooked out. After the water has cooked out of the pot, fluff the rice with a fork and let it sit, covered, for at least five minutes. This helps the heat and water transfer to fully penetrate the rice.

While the rice is cooking, put your sliced and cleaned mushrooms in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Drizzle EVOO over the mushrooms and allow them to cook down for about 10 minutes.

When the chicken is done cooking, take it out of the oven and top with the sauteed mushrooms. With the mushrooms on top of the chicken, place a piece of provolone, or swiss, cheese and place back in the oven under the broiler until the cheese is fully melted.

Plate this with a good helping of rice on the plate and put one smothered chicken breast on top of the rice. Sprinkle a little basil over the top to add a little more flavor, and color. Serve with a nice chilled glass of a sweet white wine, or your favorite beer.

What you need

Chicken Breast

Rice

Extra Virgin Olive Oil [EVOO]

Salt and Pepper

Mushrooms

Cheese [provolone or swiss]

Basil