Barbecue chicken grain bowl.
You don't have time to make this barbecue sauce?
No problem.
You just buy one at the grocery store.
But we're starting with some ketchup,
some apple cider vinegar, a little brown sugar,
some Worcestershire sauce, which has so much flavor in it,
and then our spices are a little chili powder
and some garlic salt.
But what the key is to making
this really good sticky oven barbecue sauce,
is putting this on the heat for about 5-7 minutes,
really reduce it,
and what you get is a sauce that is a little bit richer,
like I said, a little stickier,
and just perfect for that oven roasted barbecue.
So now we're gonna talk about the chicken.
I know you're a fan of chicken thighs, right, Rachel?
Oh, huge fan.
They're the perfect portion size,
which I think is awesome.
Yes.
And I just think the flavor's better,
the price is better.
They're really great.
So we've added -
And the family-style packs are so inexpensive
for a pound.
It's just such a great bargain and they're foolproof.
You can't ruin it.
They're foolproof.
Exactly. And I've just taken about a half cup
of that reserved barbecue sauce,
tossed it with salt and pepper,
and we've got all that flavor that we put into the sauce.
And one tip I gave her was cooking
on a wire rack so that you get that air circulated.
Yes! And the heat goes all the way around.
Yep!
Sure does.
And then Valerie's gonna cook these at 425.
And the key is twice, two times:
after five minutes you're going to rebaste these
with more of that barbecue sauce,
just a little bit more.
And what happens is that stickiness
that really mimics something you might get on the grill.
And then we like to finish with a little bit of broiler.
So we get that yummy, yummy -
Yay!
and those charred pieces on top -
Yes!
and this is after 25 minutes,
so it's still a really quick meal.
But we're going to make this a little bit more
of a composed meal.
So this is how I like to do it.
And one piece of advice I gave Valerie is,
anytime I'm cooking and I've got picky kids
that I'm dealing with,
I pull out both.
We're gonna compose Valerie and her husband's on this side,
and the kids who like their food separated on this side.
So we're starting with some rice because it's a grain bowl,
you could use quinoa or couscous, whatever you wanted,
but we're using some brown rice.
So we're gonna add some greens to her.
The kids are gonna pass on the greens and that's fine.
But then let's talk about all the other things
that mostly come from the pantry to assemble these bowls.
So we're gonna use some black beans,
which are so great, great source of protein,
and my kids -
And high in fiber, and right, great nutrition.
Exactly.
And so we can put that into the separate portion there,
we're gonna use some corn,
and whether you wanna use fresh corn during the summer,
or a frozen corn, or even a canned corn,
this is something Valerie can keep on hand in her freezer
or her pantry.
I really like grape tomatoes.
She told me kids are passing on tomatoes in her household,
but they do love the corn.
And so we are gonna add just a little bit of corn here,
but see how I got both,
and I'm just deconstructing this plate
while I'm making a composed plate
I gotcha.
over here.
I'm with ya.
And it's, you really don't have to think
that hard about it.
But by doing this, you're able to make one thing.
This is our barbecue chicken
that's been chopped up just a little bit,
without making a completely separate meal.
Now, the other bit of advice I gave Val is 'cause she said
her kids love sauce.
They love sauce.
So we took some of that homemade barbecue sauce
with a little bit of store bought ranch.
I'm gonna put that right there so the kids can dip.
And then Valerie can either drizzle with a little bit
of that barbecue sauce or a little bit of dressing.
Or she was saying, I just like a lot of citrus
on my grain bowls.
So this way we've got the same meal,
just deconstructed for the kids
and assembled for the parents.
And everyone feels like they're winning
and you don't feel like you are a short order cook tonight.
(swoosh)