Parmesan-Basil Rice Bowl with Chicken and Veggies

Alexandra is finally napping, and I got my nap in too so I figured blogging is the other thing I cannot possibly do while she's awake, so, compliments of Alex's nap, here's today's post!

Rice Bowl with Chicken and Veggies
Serves 2


-1/2 cup Basmati rice
-Olive oil
-Salt and Pepper
-2 chicken breasts (or in my case, one chicken breast and two measly breast pieces- thanks, Fry's!)
-8oz green beans, trimmed, halved and parboiled
-Cherry tomatoes, a large handful or so
-Several basil leaves (but not a shrubbery, more on this later)
-4-5 scallions
-1.5 oz shredded Parmesan cheese

The players!

Please note the size of the bunch of basil. This is what Todd brought me when I asked him "Could you go get me some basil out of the garden, I don't have shoes on right now." He brought me a basil shrubbery ("A shrubbery? It can't be done!" "Noooo he said the word!")

Aaaanyways. Start your rice. Thoroughly rinse your rice in cold water, and I mean, feel like you're wasting a ton of water because trust me, the starch on rice, if it stays there, will create mushy, clumpy rice.  Add rice to a small saucepan, adding 1 cup plus a splash of water, a drizzle of olive oil and a good amount of salt.  Season your chicken with salt and pepper, and heat about 1tbsp of olive oil in a skillet, and set those puppies in there once it's hot:

See that big fat piece on the right and how there's that crease down the length of it? When I flipped the chicken later, after it browned, I jammed my fork into in, pressing the unexposed meat to the kiss of the skillet:

I also semi-stacked the smallest piece of chicken on its bigger buddy in order to keep it from drying out. Now that the chicken is browned and possibly tortured by fork, add your veggies!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, eh folks? Add a bit more olive oil and remove chicken for dicing.

While your chicken rests from the heat for a spell, check on your rice. It should look like this:

Actually since a small amount was stuck to the bottom of the pan, I'd recommend removing your chicken, checking your rice and THEN dicing your meat. But what can you do. So now, take your basil, chopped scallions and Parmesan and add to the rice, stirring it until evenly mixed. Rice, by the way, should never be stirred until after the cooking time has passed or else you'd get that clumpy bullshit I mentioned earlier. Oh, and give your veggies a toss (use tongs!)

Yummmmmm. Turn off the heat, put the back on the pan and leave it on its still-hot burner. Now add your chicken back to the skillet and cook through:

When it's done-zo, plate your rice:

This picture is giving me vertigo, and I feel like the bowl on the right is going to fall off the counter. Anyways, use bowls because this dish is a rice bowl! You're going to want to stir everything together, mmmm. Add your meat and veggies:

Devour with reckless abandon! Ok, I gotta go now. Alex is awake and I have a basil shrubbery I need to deliver to the Knights of Ni.