This is one of my go-to recipes because it’s easy, relatively fast, and very healthy. It doesn’t photograph great, as these kinds of dishes often don’t. But it’s delicious and also super easy to customize. I’m including the basics here.

CHICKEN WITH SAFFRON RICE INGREDIENTS:

• 2-1/2 lbs. (-ish) BONE IN chicken thighs with skin on. Now, I’m not gonna fight you and if you want to use chicken breast, you can. But it doesn’t have nearly as much flavor.
• 2 cups Basmati rice. Because it’s the best one. If you don’t want so much left over rice, you can cut this to just 1 cup and use 1-1/2 cups of water or chicken broth. Everything else stays the same.
• 3 cups chicken broth or water. I prefer broth for flavor.
• olive oil or whatever you typically use
• 1-2 cans diced tomatoes
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced, but use more or less as you like
• 1 cup frozen peas, or however much you like
  • If you want to add more veggies, like broccoli or peppers, just sauté them in the pan the same as the onion. Only add them at the end if they’re frozen.
• pimientos or other red pepper from a jar.
• Saffron, crushed
  • A note on saffron: It can get expensive, but you’re only going to use a small bit. Maybe 5-7 strands? I probably use a little more than most people would, but I love its very delicate flavor. If you normally prefer to eat spicy foods, feel free to change it to cumin for a stronger flavor.
• Salt/Pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. First, prep your chicken. You want the skin to be dry, so either pat it with paper towels or, even better, let it sit in the fridge uncovered for a few hours before cooking. The skin will look sorta like this, dry and almost paper-y:

2. Next, heat some oil in a deep fry pan and place chicken pieces skin side down. Let the skin get browned and crispy—about 4-5 minutes if they’re bigger pieces—then use cooking tongs to flip them over and brown the other side. *Note, you’re not trying to cook the chicken through at this point, just get the outside crisp.

3. When chicken is done, remove from pan and put to the side. Add diced onion and garlic to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes.

4. Next, add dry rice and let cook for a minute or so. Then add broth, diced tomatoes, saffron, salt and pepper:

5. Stir everything together and then lay the chicken pieces on top:

6. Bring the pot to boiling, then cover and reduce to a simmer. Cook long enough to cook the chicken and for the rice to absorb all the liquid (usually about 12 minutes or so). Test the internal temperature of the chicken – when it’s 165 degrees, it’s done.

7. Turn off heat. Now stir peas and pimientos into the pot, and put cover back on. Let it sit for a few minutes so the peas aren’t frozen anymore. And serve!