Tu B’Shvat Chicken & Rice with Dates, Raisins, and Olives (GF, DF)

Back on Tu b'Shvat, I had this vision of a dish I wanted to make, but I couldn't find a recipe so I worked with ChatGPT to craft one. It didn't work out, but I spent some time noodling how to fix the crunchy rice issue I had, and ultimately this one worked out perfectly! If you try it, let me know what you think. 

Tu B’Shvat Chicken & Rice with Dates, Raisins, and Olives

Feeds a crowd!

Ingredients

• 2 cups basmati rice, rinsed and drained 
• 3 lb boneless chicken thighs (or any mix of chicken you want really)
• 2–3 tbsp olive oil 
• 3 cups chicken broth or water, boiling hot
• 1¼ cup orange juice 
• 1 very large onion, thinly sliced 
• 4 cloves garlic, minced 
• ¾ cup green olives, pitted and halved 
• ¾ cup dates, chopped 
• ¾ cup raisins 
• 2 tsp paprika 
• 1½ tsp cumin 
• ¾ tsp cinnamon 
• ¼ tsp turmeric (optional) 
• 1¾–2 tsp salt 
• Black pepper 
• Date honey (to drizzle) 

Instructions

• Heat oven to 220°C / 425°F. 
• Toss chicken with olive oil, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, salt, and pepper and set aside while you prep the other ingredients.
• Then, add the rice to large baking dish and add onion, garlic, olives, dates, and raisins.
• Mix the boiling water/broth and OJ together and pour evenly over the rice mixture.
• Gently stir through the center, then smooth flat again. 
• Top with chicken and drizzle a healthy amount of silan over the chicken. 
• Put a piece of wet parchment over the top and then and cover very tightly with foil. You don't want any steam to release or the rice won't cook!
• Bake covered for 45 minutes, until rice is just tender with a slight bite in the center. 
• Remove foil and parchment and bake ~10 minutes more until chicken is lightly golden. 

If you're eating straight away, enjoy! If you're putting in the fridge and reheating, be sure you let it sit out for about 20-30 minutes before refrigerating. To reheat, do not remove the foil at all -- it'll stay moist and steam nicely as is on your plata. 

Crispy Baked Chicken Bites with Asian-inspired Sauce (Gluten-Free)

I love Chinese food so much, but being gluten-free and living in Israel, there are essentially zero options for crispy, tasty options here. Yes, I could buy some batter or use a recipe from Google, slathered in flour and deep-fried on the stove, but I don't deep fry food. 

So this year, I spent some time with my BFF ChatGPT to figure out the best cornstarch-based recipe because I know that cornstarch creates the crispiest, most golden-brown crust in the oven. So after several attempts, here she is ... the ultimate crispy baked chicken bites. Toss them in your own favorite sauce or use mine! 

If you try the recipe, please let me know what you think. 

Crispy Baked Chicken Bites with Asian-inspired Sauce (Gluten-Free)

Serves: 5-6

Chicken ingredients
1.5-2 lb boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces (you can use breasts too)
1 tbsp soy sauce
½ cup cornstarch
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp garlic powder
Olive oil spray

Sauce ingredients
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
3 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp soy sauce 

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 425°F/220°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment and lightly spray it with olive oil. 
2. Pat the chicken pieces as dry as you can. 
3. Put the chicken pieces in a bowl and toss with the soy sauce. 
4. Add cornstarch, salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and toss to coat until every piece looks dry and chalky. 
5. Spread chicken in a single layer on the baking sheet and then spray lightly with oil. 
6. Bake 15 minutes. 
7. Flip pieces and bake another 15 minutes until crisp and golden. 
8. In the last 5 minutes of baking, add the sauce ingredients to a pan, and bring to a boil for about a minute until it’s thick. 
9. Remove the chicken from the oven and toss the chicken in the sauce.
10. Serve with rice and broccoli.

Prepare to Microwave Your Chicken

The greatest thing I miss about not being kosher is the convenience of many heat-and-eat products (after all, I once upon a time wrote food treyf-style reviews for HeatEatReview.com). I also was able to lose a hefty amount of weight by subsisting on Lean Cuisines, which are, from my memory, absolutely delicious. Unfortunately, being kosher means very few healthy, heat-and-eat options. Among the available options is probably the only healthy one, which is Garden Lites, but it's all veggies, all the time. You have to be a real lover of things like zucchini to take those on. But there's nothing like those giant family-size frozen options that I've found that are both gluten-free and won't clog my arteries on first-bite.


What if, say, you want a full-size chicken. And you want it in 20 minutes. You want it delicious. You want it moist. And? You want to make it in your microwave.

Tuvia got really excited. And he wanted to do the "Susanne Face."

I know, it's crazy. I thought it was crazy. When a rep with Empire Kosher called me about this new product -- the Ready to Roast Garlic and Herb Seasoned Chicken, I seriously thought he was insane. You can't buy un-kosher chicken that you can cook in 20 minutes in your microwave, so why on earth would the kosher market produce something?

There were some juices leaking from the bag, but otherwise? Ready to cook.

In my mind, all I can think is that the folks at Empire realize that we're busy -- all of us, not just Jews -- and having a fresh, delicious, kosher, seasoned chicken ready in 20 minutes is the best thing since sliced bread. The directions couldn't be more simple [this is my take on them, actually]:

Open the big bag. Inside is another bag. On one side it says "This side up" or something to that effect. Put the bag of chicken on a plate with the right side up. Cut two holes. Put in microwave. Cook for 20-22 minutes. Eat delicious, moist, seasoned chicken. Be happy. Use the time you could have used waiting for your chicken to be done to eat some delicious dessert or go for a walk or snuggle with your sweetie.  

He's got a knife! Steam.

My dear husband Tuvia described the chicken as "moist and flavorful." To which I responded, that's it? And he responded, "sure thing." Okay, so he's not one for words. The great thing about this chicken is that the seasoning really permeates throughout the bird. Oftentimes, as I've noticed in my own imperfect cooking, the seasoning I put on the skin sits there, and a lot of people don't eat the skin, so the flavor is lost. Empire did a great job making sure the flavor was throughout, and that the bird stayed super moist, even in the microwave.

I will say that the perfect cooking takes a bit of tweaking, and you have to check the packaging with the wattage of your microwave. We cooked ours initially for 20 minutes, then for another 2, and there were still a few spots we weren't sure about, but the thermometer (our's) showed us otherwise. We devoured the chicken, leaving just enough for me to take on a Chicken Taco Salad tomorrow. Leftovers are wonderful (and that shows you how plentiful the chicken is).

Yes, Empire gave me this bird to try. Yes, I'm happy that it was free. But seriously? It was at Glatt Express here in Teaneck for about $15, which is nothing for a meal that with some potatoes and veggies could easily feed four people. But those of you who've read me for a while know that I'm honest in my reviews. If you don't believe me, check out some of my honesty over on my Yelp page. So go out, buy a delicious Empire Kosher Chicken, and be prepared to kick back and have dinner in no time at all.

Happy eating! (PS: I'm pretty sure this is NASA technology ... what else could it be!?)

The delicious, well-seasoned, moist as a summer night in Washington D.C. chicken. B'tayavon! (Bon appetit!)