Middle Eastern inspired Chicken and Rice!

            Many cultures seem to have inspired this dish in a typical American fashion.  The original recipe came from Frugalbites.com  and it is their own copy-cat recipe from this place in New York called the Halal Guys ("Halal" means permissible which further means food that follows Islamic food rules. For non-Islamic followers (like me) halal is important because it is the most humane way to slaughter an animal). Halal Guys is a New York landmark street food place and a must eat place if you are ever in New York...so I've been told! Hey, it's on my to-do list.  In the mean time, for a street food style flavor explosion of a dinner here is my slightly tweaked version of the meal!

You will need:

The whole meal is in three parts

For the Chicken:
1/2 a lemon juiced
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 cup olive oil
Reduced sodium chicken broth
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs (defrosted if frozen)

1.    In a bowl combine well the lemon, oregano, coriander, cumin and olive oil and set aside.  Spray down your slow cooker and place your chicken at the bottom, then poor over the seasoning dressing.  Lastly, poor in enough broth to cover the chicken.  Cook on high for 3-4 hours (Mine was done after 3, but my crock runs hot). Remove from juices, shred and set aside: keep warm.

Cook.

Shred.

For the Sauce:
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1+ tsp of sugar
2 Tbs vinegar
1/2 lemon, juiced
Salt and Pepper to taste

2.   While the chicken is cooking, combine all sauce ingredients in a bowl; do a taste test, if it's too sour add more sugar, and if too sweet add more lemon. Set in the fridge to allow flavors to marry. The longer it sits, the better it gets!

White sauce: so good!

For the Rice:
2 Tbs butter, divided
1/2 a yellow onion, diced
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cumin
1 1/2 cups white rice
2 1/2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth

3.    40 minutes prior to the chicken finishing in the crock pot, begin your rice.  Dice and saute the onion in 1 Tbs of butter over medium heat until translucent.  Add the other Tbs of butter, let melt and then add the rice, turmeric and cumin and saute until it starts to slightly brown, about 5-ish minutes.  The rice will be a nice dark golden color from the cooking and turmeric. Lastly, add in the chicken broth, bring to a simmer, cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 20 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed. Try not to stir the rice too much while cooking (once or twice), removing the lid allows moisture to escape. Fluff rice when done.

This rice tastes amazing on it's own!

4.    Throw it all on a plate!  Serve with shredded lettuce, diced tomato, chopped Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped green onion and a side of naan bread slices. You can use pita bread but I find it hard to get really good, non- "pocket style" pita bread. Naan is an Indian style flat bread and is a delicious pairing with this dish! As you eat make little sandwiches or mix it all together on your plate, it's all delicious when topped with the white sauce!

I know that I've posted a lot of recipes lately and a wide verity at that. 

I believe to truly experience different cultures you must try the food!  

You can understand a lot about people through their food.

Please post comments and thoughts below!

Enjoy guys and Happy Cooking!