Lavender Scented Rice with Pomegranate Black Pepper Chicken

One of the things I don’t like about making up a recipe is coming up with a name for it.  Today I could have had this name that went on for pages.    It was hard to decide which ingredients to highlight.  And because of my run in with code enforcement I have a major, pounding, Excederin Headache No. 2009.  In fact, they nearly caused me to mess this up.

So, as I said on twitter and facebook (MaryeAudet on both places) I had chicken, walnuts, rice, and a few other things and I was trying to figure out what to make.

As I was looking in the fridge I saw the POM that I had been sent for review.  I started thinking about a sweet/tangy/hot glaze for the chicken..but I only had 3 chicken breasts for 8 people…Salad…As I looked things sort of started coming together, as they often will, and I had everything on the counter and ready to go.  I decided to flavor the brown rice with lavender buds to give it a citrus tang.  The glaze for the chicken was made from a highly peppered pomegranate mixture, sweetened with agave, and I added cilantro, caramelized onions, and candied walnuts, and tossed all of it with the rice.  Verdict?

YUM.

It does have a lot of components but goes together really fast.  Put the rice on first and then work on the other stuff.

Lavender Scented Rice with Pomegranate Black Pepper Chicken

Lavender Scented Rice

• 2 cups brown rice
• 4 1/4 cups salted water
• 2 tbs food grade lavender buds

Bring the water to a boil, add the rice and lavender, cover.  Turn down heat to low and allow to cook until water is absorbed and rice is done.

Pomegranate Black Pepper Chicken

• 1/2 cup POM pomegranate juice
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 2 tbs honey
• 2 tbs agave
• 1 tbs cracked black pepper (or to taste, this is peppery)
• pinch Vietnamese cinnamon
• salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon organic Non GMO corn starch

Mix ingredients together.  Microwave until sauce clears, thickens, and is syrupy.  Set aside.

Candied Walnuts

• 1/2 c sugar
• 1 cup walnuts

Place sugar in pan.  Stir until it is melted and amber in color.  Quickly stir in walnuts, coating each evenly.  Remove from heat and spread walnuts on greased waxed paper to cool

Caramelized Onions

3 onions, peeled and sliced

1 tbs olive oil

slowly cook onions, covered, over medium heat.  Stir occasionally until the onions begin to take on a nice golden color.  Set aside.

Chicken

3 chicken breasts

Pomegranate Glaze

Brush glaze on chicken but be sure not to contaminate glaze.  You will need it later..  Heat a grill pan with a little olive oil in it.  Add the chicken glaze side down to hot pan.  Brush the side of the chicken facing up, with glaze.  Allow to grill until chicken is golden and grill marks are well defined.  Turn and grill other side.  Continue to brush with glaze.

Test chicken for doneness.  Cut in chunks and pour the rest of the glaze over it.

Put It Together

Stir  all ingredients, except the walnuts, into the rice.  Add 1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro and sprinkle with the walnuts.  Serve immediately.

Serves 6 (I used more rice than I wrote here, but I would stick with these percentages if I did it again)

image:marye audet