A fun and healthy-ish weeknight dinner after a long weekend
Halal Cart Chicken is so flavorful and adaptable. And you'll use this yellow rice recipe over and over again.
After a long, late-summer weekend I want something healthy-ish and low-maintenance for dinner, but with a little fun to it too. I want Halal Cart Chicken and Yellow Rice.
Before anyone comes for me, I have never lived in New York and I do not claim any authenticity here. But this rice is so good, the chicken is intensely flavorful and won’t dry out because we’re using boneless chicken thighs. Then, the fun part is piling it up with whatever kinds of veggies and sauces bring you joy. (Some thoughts on that below).
This recipe comes from Ethan Chlebowski, a YouTube cook, who is kinda like Kenji Lopez-Alt + Alton Brown but with an interest in lifting and #gains. That sounds really intense, but I swear his channel is lovely and great inspo for quick, flavorful meals that are usually packed with protein. This is one I made for Paul once a few years ago and now get requests for it all the time. And I’m not kidding when I say, I use this rice for everything.
Ok, let’s make dinner.
Halal Cart Chicken with Yellow Rice
Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1.5 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp pepper
A sprinkle of oregano
3 garlic cloves, minced
Juice from 1/4 of lemon
2 heaping tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1/8 onion, diced
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp of turmeric
1 tsp of smoked paprika
1 bay leaf
1 cup white rice
1 1/4 cup chicken broth or water
Toppings of your choice: Lettuce, chopped up veggies (I used bell pepper and cucumber here because that’s what I had), white sauce (see below), hot sauce, have fun with it.
Method:
Marinade your chicken: Combine 1.5 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp ground cloves, 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1/4 tsp pepper, a sprinkle of oregano, 3 minced garlic cloves, the juice of 1/4 lemon and 2 tbsp mayo in a bowl or plastic bag. Add in your chicken thighs and really massage that marinade in there before putting it in the fridge. Let it marinade for at least 30 min if you’re cooking these tonight, or up to 24 hours.
Meanwhile, make the rice. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a small pot. Then add 1/8 of an onion, diced, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp of turmeric, 1 tsp of smoked paprika and 1 bay leaf. Stir until it is nice and fragrant, watching to keep it from burning, less than a minute. Then add 1 cup of white rice and stir all of that together, for another minute or two, toasting the rice. Finally, pour in a bit more than a cup of chicken broth (or water) and bring it to a boil. Once it’s boiling, turn it down to low, put a lid on it and let it simmer for 20 minutes. When that’s done, keep it covered, off the heat, until everything else is ready.
Cook the chicken: Heat a pan over medium high, shake a little excess marinade off the chicken thighs and sear them on each side until cooked through. (I can’t rave enough about how useful and cheap digital thermometers are. Mine has a temperature alarm to let you know when your chicken is done and it’s on sale for $25 right now! #NotAnAd)
Now for the fun part, once you’ve let your chicken rest for 5 minutes, dice it up, put it over the rice and add your favorite toppings. Lettuce, crunchy vegetables, pita bread, mix it up. Put out a bunch of options and let your loved ones make their own. Fun!
Yes, and
WHAT ABOUT THE SAUCE? I know. Sorry. You’ve got some options here.
Ethan has pretty accurate recreations of both the classic Halal cart white and red sauces at the bottom of the page here. They’re fabulous, but I find them a little fussy, especially after I’ve just gone back to work after a long weekend.
What I usually do is take a few tablespoons of sour cream, mayo or plain yogurt (whichever is in my fridge or a mixture of them), squeeze in half the lemon you have leftover from the chicken marinade, a few really minced cloves of garlic and some salt and pepper. Taste. Adjust to get a consistency you’re happy with. Delicious. Versatile. I make this basic sauce just about every week.
And then I honestly just use hot sauce instead of the red. This week was Tapatío.
Background noise
It’s a little counter to the title of this category, but if you haven’t seen this music video, for Jungle’s “Back On 74,” you really owe it to yourself to watch it.
Once you’ve watched it (over and over again), the song is great to dance through the kitchen to while you’re scouring your fridge for what veggies to add to your chicken bowl.
That’s it for this week. As much as I’m looking forward to braising season (a High Holiday for this newsletter) I am savoring these last days of summer. I hope you’re enjoying them too.