Chicken with green olives and cauliflower rice is comfort food and sometimes that’s just what you need. You know the sort. Cooked slowly in the oven, filling the house with delicious smells that you just can’t wait to eat. The problem is, sometimes you just don’t have the time to work that slow food magic. Here’s the solution. It tastes like its been in the oven for hours, but in under thirty minutes, you’ve got just what you need to make everything right.
The cauliflower rice is a new addition. I’ve never been a big fan of cauliflower. I associate it with cheesy white sauce that’s poured over the cooked vegetable, then put in the oven to make the top crunchy. Describing it, it doesn’t sound that bad. But I just never liked it. My other experience of cauliflower is in aloo gobi. Nothing like a few spices to make an otherwise dull vegetable more palatable. So cauliflower for cauliflower’s sake, just didn’t do it for me.
As an adult you make choices based on past experiences. I hated cauliflower as a child, so have never really included it in the food I cook. But cauliflower has become fashionable. Cauliflower rice is the answer to everything. Ordinarily I would ignore the hype, remember I hate cauliflower. But here’s the thing. When children become adults they like to have an input. Let’s have this!; let’s have that!…and you acquiesce because you pick your battles, and my dislike for cauliflower just didn’t cut it when picking a battle. So we tried cauliflower rice. Admittedly I substituted the recommended coconut oil for olive oil but that’s not the point. I liked it!!! So a little badgering is not always bad. Indeed as a result my repertoire has expanded and now I’m fashionable too. Enjoy!
- 4 chicken thighs
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 5 mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 12 large green olives (marinated in lemon and garlic, works well)
- ½ cup white wine (or chicken stock)
- 1 small cauliflower
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
- broccoli (or other green vegetable) to serve
- Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan over a medium/high heat. Cook the chicken thighs for 2 minutes each side. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Reduce the heat to low and add the onion, garlic, lemon zest and mushrooms. Cook for a couple of minutes until the onion is softened, stirring regularly.
- Add the tomatoes, olives and white wine stirring to combine. Return the chicken to the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer until the chicken is cooked through (approximately 10 mins).
- Cauliflower Rice: Roughly chop the cauliflower. Place piece in a food processor and pulse until into small pieces about the size of rice.
- Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the cauliflower and lightly cook for approximately 5 minutes, or until softened. Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve with broccoli or green vegetable of your choice.
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