Week 2: Day 1

Chicken and Wild Rice

• 1  cup  wild rice blend
• 2  teaspoons  olive oil
• 8  chicken thighs (about 3 pounds)
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 2  cups  red seedless grapes
• 1  tablespoon  fresh thyme leaves
• 1  pound  green beans, trimmed
• 2  tablespoons  unsalted butter

Directions

1. Heat oven to 425° F. Cook the rice according to the package directions.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper. In 2 batches, cook the chicken, skin-side down, until golden, 5 to 6 minutes, then transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. Place skin-side up and roast until cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes.
3. Add the grapes and thyme to the drippings in the skillet and cook, tossing occasionally, until the grapes begin to burst, 5 to 7 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, fill a large pot with 1 inch of water and fit with a steamer basket; bring the water to a boil. Place the green beans in the basket, cover, and steam until tender, 5 to 7 minutes; toss with the butter. Serve with the chicken, rice, and grapes.

Another meal cooked by the boyfriend.  I like being part of a generation in which men grew up not expecting their partners to cook for them.  

Ease of finding Ingredients:  B+

This recipe calls for a fresh herb, which is almost guaranteed to be difficult to find.  I found it at the under-stocked Wal-Mart.  I had to get Uncle Ben's wild rice, and skip using the seasoning it came with.

Ease of Preparation:  C

There is a lot going on here.  You have the chicken in the oven, the rice cooking in one pot, the green beans in the steamer, and the attention intensive sauteing of the thyme and the grapes. Each thing is easy in and of itself, but when you try to do all things, it kinda gets tough. The boyfriend actually burned the thyme on his first attempt, so he threw it out, and then re-did it using olive oil instead of the chicken drippings.

Taste:  C

This whole meal does not harmonize.  Each section of the meal is fine, but there is no togetherness.  The grapes are an interesting note, in a good way, but they don't feel like part of the rice.  The green beans were good, but they don't add to the chicken.  The whole is not greater than the sum of its parts, so that deserves a B.  However, I find bone-in, skin-on chicken to be too much effort to enjoy.  And I hate the texture of chicken skin, so that drops the overall grade to a C.  

Leftovers:  C-

Left overs were slightly less good than the original meal.