Recipes Part 11: Saffron Chicken with Parsley and Lemon

My friend Corinne is an amazing cook and inspiration for my own food and food choices. She is a veteran of the farmers markets in Carrboro and Chapel Hill and, if I’m lucky, will be doing a guest blog post in the coming months. The recipe below is one she pointed me to from Kalyn’s Kitchen, a fellow blogger who is dedicated to delicious and healthy recipes that anyone can do in their kitchen.

Kalyn’s recipe was a perfect fit for this blog because sweet onions (which I used in place of normal white onions) are just ending their season in the Charlotte area and I’ve been using them in everything recently. Herbs are also highlighted this time of year though they grow pretty well through the warm months in North Carolina. The chicken, as always, was from Windy Hill Farms, the onions from Houston Farms, I used my rendered pork drippings in place of the butter and oil, the parsley was from Fork In It and the rice from Simply Local (I used the purple rice that they had a couple weeks ago because it's fun). Come to think of it, if I had used chicken stock from a whole chicken, the only non-local ingredients would have been the lemon and the saffron!

Kalyn’s Safron Chicken with Parsley and Lemon

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1 inch pieces)

4-5 small or 1-2 large sweet onions, cut in strips

1 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon butter (optional)

1 pinch Saffron (~1/4 teaspoon)

¾ cup chicken stock

4-5 teaspoons lemon juice

¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley

2 cups made rice

1. Heat oil and butter (or drippings) over medium-high heat in large skillet
2. Add chicken and cook on all sides but not too long (chicken does not need to be cooked through at this point) and set aside
3. Add onions to the oil/butter mixture, allow to brown (12-15 minutes) on very low heat
4. Remove onions, put chicken back in the pan and cover with onion
5. In separate saucepan, heat chicken stock and dissolve saffron
6. Pour stock over chicken and onions
7. Simmer on low heat, covered, 30-45 minutes
8. Add parsley, lemon juice and some water if needed and simmer for 10-15 minutes more
9. Serve over rice