Hearty One-Pot Chicken And Rice With Cabbage Slaw

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Ingredients:

Cabbage Slaw

• 1 cabbage head
• 1/2 green pepper
• 1 small onion
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon celery seed
• 3/4 cup apple cider vinger
• 3/4 cup of oil
• 1 1/2 cup of sugar

Chicken And Rice

• 8-12 chicken legs
• White rice
• Salted chicken broth
• 1/4 tablespoon salt

Cookware:

• 1.5 gallon pot

Cooking Tips:

• Aunt Joy always said, “Just when you think you don’t need more salt, add a bunch more.” When you are ready to eat, simply add another cup of salted chicken broth and warm it on the stovetop.
• If you want authenticity, let the bottom layer burn a little bit, just like Aunt Joy did.
• The cabbage slaw has to be made in a large batch and the longer it sits in the refrigerator, the better. Since it is vinegar-based, it keeps forever. I like to make it 1-3 weeks before I actually eat it to achieve maximum tastiness.

Instructions:

Cabbage Slaw:

1. Finely chop 1 head of cabbage, ½ large green pepper, and 1 small onion; I use a food processor to get it very finely chopped.

3. Stir ingredients together and add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of celery seed.

4. Over medium heat, bring ¾ cup of apple cider vinegar, ¾ cup of oil, and 1 ¼ cup of sugar to a boil, and then pour over the cabbage mixture.

5. Then just cool and refrigerate. The longer it sits, the better it gets!

Chicken And Rice:

1. It starts by simply salting 8 to 12 chicken legs (bones and skin intact) and placing them into the magic red pot.

2. Add 4 cups of SALTED chicken broth and ¼ tablespoon of salt.

3. Boil gently for 15 minutes until the chicken is completely cooked. Remove from heat and add 3 cups of rice.

4. Stir gently so that all rice is wet and then cover with a lid.

5. This is where the magic happens – let it sit for 4-5 hours covered on the stovetop.

6. Remove the lid and use a fork to remove the chicken legs.

7. Pull the chicken meat off the bone and separate it from the skin.

8. Place pulled chicken back into the rice mixture and stir.

9. Taste and, if necessary, add more salt to your liking.

About This Recipe

My favorite person in the entire world has always been my great aunt Joy. She lived to the age of 84 without marrying or having children of her own. From as early as I can remember, I spent every Friday night at her house. She would pick me up from school and we headed straight to the used book store where we each selected two books for the weekend. We would stop and pick up a pizza on the way home, then spend our Friday night sitting on separate couches, independently reading our book du jour. There was usually some TV show playing in the background. Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, then sitcoms like Perfect Strangers, Family Matters, or Night Court. We stayed on our couches reading until we couldn’t keep our eyes open any longer. Eventually, we’d give up and head to bed.

On Saturday mornings, I would wake up first and start cartoons, picking up my book from the night before and sticking my nose right back inside the story. She would wake up later that morning and have coffee before we both put our books down and headed into the kitchen. She wasn’t a great cook, but she had one specialty: chicken and rice with cabbage slaw. It just so happened that her specialty was also my favorite meal. If I’m being honest, it still is.

The chicken and rice started with THE big red pot. Her kitchen was decorated with strawberries everywhere that you looked. The crown jewel of this collection was a 1.5 gallon, bright red pot that she probably picked up at the five-and-dime store years before I was ever born. It was burnt on the bottom and scratched on the sides. If you lifted the lid and looked inside, there were scorch marks inside.

As I said, she wasn’t a great cook. She had a tendency to get caught up in books and forget that the stove was on. The recipe itself is nothing special. In truth, it only has four ingredients: chicken, plain white rice, chicken broth, and a good amount of salt.

After the cooking was finished, Aunt Joy and I would either read our second book of the weekend or sit down to a game of cards until it was time for dinner. We would set the table together, sit down, and talk over dinner. This was a sharp contrast to the previous evening that was silent as we read. It was one-on-one time. We shared what happened at school, what happened at work, what made us happy or sad, what our new books taught us, and what our plans for the next week were. Shortly after dinner, I would head home.

This Friday night tradition continued well into my high school years. Over time, I learned so much from her. The value of a good book, the importance of human connection, how to play Canasta, the importance of self-reliance, the value of helping others, that it is okay to like being alone, a lifetime love of the written word, the value of a good dog, and so much more.

She passed away on November 17, 2013 at the age of 84. She had been diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma a few weeks before and was not interested in treatment. She was extremely independent after an entire lifetime of independence. When she realized that she was unable to live alone any longer, she called me and asked for help. I picked her up the next day and brought her to my home. She had one suitcase and a large cardboard box. I know she made the decision to accept her death the day she called and asked for help. After we moved her into my home, she didn’t eat or drink again. She lived for another 48 hours. She passed away on my couch while my mom and I were holding her hands, telling her how loved she was and that she was the best aunt we could ever have asked for.

The box that we moved into my home along with aunt Joy held THE big red pot. It is my single most prized possession. Today, I now use it to make chicken and rice for my family. It still has scratches on the sides and scorch marks along the bottom of the pot. Every batch of chicken and rice I make has a thin layer on the bottom that comes out perfectly burnt. Who knows, maybe it was the pot all along.

This story was submitted to Love What Matters  by Tiffany Kimble. Submit your own story  here, and be sure to subscribe to our free email newsletter for our best stories, and YouTube for our best videos.

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