Batch Cook: Grilled Chicken and Saffron Yellow rice. Recipe and progress pics below.

I batch cook often, and am finally getting around to updating / uploading my cooking projects throughout the year. I used to cheat and use box mix for the rice, but I finally decided to make it from scratch for less sodium content. Likewise I found quite a few recipes that called for either chicken stock or saffron/turmeric for yellow rice. I decided to combine both elements for extra flavor.

Note * top pic is from most recent variation where I didn't forget shit like red bell peppers and used a rice cooker. instructions for both one pot recipe and recipe cooker below.

Freezer tax featuring Frito pie mix, chicken and rice, and Salisbury steak.

I batch cook for three reasons:

1.) Some days during the semester I don’t feel like cooking shit, but still want to eat half ass healthy.
2.) It's in food saver bags, so its microwave and boil safe.
3.) It’s cheaper than eating out when you want to eat well.

1 Some of the chickens fresh off the grill and resting for a few minutes before I cut up into cubes. Cooked with pecan and mesquite for extra flavor.

3 Shredded these carrots with a cheese grader

3 Grilling up the onions in olive oil- butter is always better

4 Chicken cubed (only half pictured - already the the other half in the pot )

5 Better than Bouillon stock- this stuff is awesome- even use it in my ramen!

7 Everything in the pot so far and rice is getting ready to cook. The second time I held off on the water and cooked the rice in a rice cooker then combined it with the veggies / chicken meat mixture.

8 Saffron slurry mixture - some of it i crushed up finely, others i left whole pieces

10.) Hungry dog tax. All mixed up and set aside for cooling so I can vacuum pack it later.

Note* this recipe is for a double batch. The second time around I ended up partially filling up two additional containers above.

•Ingredients:
2.5- 3lbs of grilled chicken breast - rubbed with equal parts pepper, garlic, onion powder, paprika and sea salt or low sodium soy sauce.
4 tsps. of “Better Than Bullion” concentrated liquid chicken stock (low sodium)
3 and 3/4 cups of water
2 1/2 cups of basmati rice
1 large onion finely chopped /minced
4 carrots finely shredded – cheated and used a cheese grater…
2 red bell pepper finely chopped /minced
2 lbs of steamed broccoli
2 tsp of olive oil or butter

•Saffron slurry mixture: 6 pinches of saffron partially crushed– spoon and a bowl work just fine
1 tsp of ground ginger 1 tsp cumin (substituting for tumeric )
2-3 tsp of water – you don’t need a lot, just enough to thoroughly mix the ingredients.

One pot instructions:

Preheat coals to 300-350 freedom units / 148-176 Celcius
Rub chicken breast with equal parts fresh cracked pepper, garlic, onion and paprika, and half sea salt or low sodium soy sauce.
after your chicken is grilled, allow to rest then cube it.
Sauté onions until they start getting translucent
Add carrots / bell peppers and sauté an additional 3-4 minutes.
Add chopped steamed broccoli.
Combine Chicken along with water and better than bouillon mixture.
Add in rice and simmer covered until finished (about 25-30 minutes)
Add saffron slurry mixture last 5 minutes - its a lot like finishing hops in brewing. you don't want the heat breaking down the aroma.

Rice cooker instructions:

Combine Better than Bouillon, rice and water in your rice cooker and get that shit going.
Rub chicken breast with equal parts fresh cracked pepper, garlic, onion and paprika, and half sea salt or low sodium soy sauce.
Grill chicken until 165 and rest for 10-20 minutes. Slice and cube into 1/2 pieces.
Sauté onions until they start getting translucent
Add carrots / bell peppers and sauté an additional 3-4 minutes.
Add chopped steamed broccoli.
If your rice is not ready at this point, go ahead and put on low.
After rice has been cooked – add saffron slurry mixture, fluff that stuff and combine with your sauteed veggies and cubed grilled chicken

Serving size is slightly variable; I tend to do 12oz for a dinner and 8-10oz for lunch. On average there is a minimum of a ¼ pound of cooked chicken per serving. You can always add more to your heart’s desire.