I need to rave a minute about the rice that I made last night. It. was. delicious. My mother bought us a rice cooker last March when she was in town and I think it is the one appliance I use daily. If you asked me what appliance I would want to be stuck with, it’s that one. I can steam veggies, cook rice and even do chicken in it (though I haven’t yet). The best part is, it was a STEAL at $20 brand new at Walmart. If you avoid Teflon, you may not want this one, but non-Teflon rice cookers are extremely expensive so I make do.

Anyway, Joshua and I have been trying new things with our rice. Using chicken broth and water instead of just water, adding butter for flavor, etc. Last night I did 1 ½ cups of dry rice, 2 cups of water and 1 cup of chicken broth. I did about 2-3 tablespoons of butter and then added in about a tablespoon of Knorr chicken bouillon (a seriously magic ingredient, no lie). After the butter melted some, I stirred the rice and butter/brother mix a bit to get it really soaked in there and then let it do it’s thing.

20 minutes later, out pops a masterpiece. I was even able to eat the leftover rice plain for a midnight snack and breakfast. Last night it was served with mashed potatoes (out of a box because again, I am not Super Mom, but even those can be seasoned pretty good) and lemon pepper chicken which is my current favorite dish (and is also super simple). What, you want me to share that, too?

Well, okay… ;-)

I take about three washed, boneless, chicken breasts (I would do four but when I buy the breasts on sale they come in packs of three) and put them in a small glass pan. I used to use my 9×13 pan but really, why create all that extra work of cleaning? I cut them criss-cross, almost all the way through, but for the most part I leave them intact as breasts. Then I melt about 4-5 spoonfuls of butter (Teaspoon? Tablespoon? I’m really not sure.) in the microwave for 30 seconds, pour over the breasts and make sure every bit of the top is covered. If you need more, do more, but extra is okay. It just pools on the bottom of the pan and gives the bottom of the breast some flavor.

I like to add a bit of lemon juice, just a little bit, and then I liberally shake Great Value brand lemon pepper seasoning all over the top of the breasts. All seasoning is NOT created equal, either – I’m not a fan of 5th Season. We’re cheap so I don’t try any of the other brands but YMMV if you do.

Bake it in the oven at 350 °F somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half. I usually start the rice about an hour in and when it’s done, the chicken is done. Be sure to serve with rice and a third option (some sort of veggie – I would think green beans would be good but I’m not a good greens-eater yet). A relatively easy dinner option for two (and a half)!

Thanks for the rice cooker Mom!