Creole Chicken with Rice

Don’t let the unappetizing photo scare you off from this dish. It doesn’t look like much, but the taste is out-of-this-world phenomenal.

Back before I got sick, I read the book Eat to Live by Dr. Fuhrman. I have always tried to eat as healthfully as possible and heard his book was informative. Basically, he maps out a caloric restriction diet/lifestyle. He recommends eating lots of fresh, raw veggies and eating meat sparingly, thinking of it as a condiment. I used the book as mainly a diet guideline and for some of the recipes--caloric restriction is a bit too extreme for me, I'm not really into counting calories. Some of the recipes are really good so I went online to Dr. Furhman's blog to find more. I saw this one and decided to try it. I’m so glad I did because this has become one of our top 5 favorite recipes. A word of warning, if you don’t like hot and spicy food this is not the meal for you. It definitely cleans out the sinuses.

I made this a lot when I had to eliminate gluten from my diet. I use Trader Joe’s brand chili sauce because it is gluten free and I love it. I’m not sure if all chili sauce is gluten free so if you have celiac disease or a gluten intolerance be sure to check the ingredients of the sauce you use.




Creole Chicken with Spinach and Rice
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serves 3-4

for the seasoned rice:
1 cup brown rice, uncooked
2 c water
1 tsp chili powder

for the creole chicken:
grapeseed oil (or olive oil)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast
~2 c chopped organic celery
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
10 oz bag fresh spinach
1 cup chili sauce (low salt) (I use a whole 5 oz bottle of Trader Joe's Chili Pepper Sauce)
1 small chopped onion
1 large green pepper, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbl chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp dried
1 Tbl chopped fresh parsley or 1 tsp dried
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

Cook brown rice according to package directions, adding chili powder to cooking water.

Add a bit of oil to lightly coat the bottom of a dutch oven or pot. Cook chicken on medium high, browning each side until cooked through. Remove chicken to a cutting board to rest.**

Add onion, celery, garlic, green pepper and sauté a few minutes. Meanwhile, cut the chicken into bite-sized chunks. Pour in the can of diced tomatoes to deglaze the bottom of the pot, scraping up any brown bits. Add chicken, chili sauce, and spices; bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Simmer covered for 10 minutes. Stir in spinach, cover until wilted. Stir, adjust seasonings to taste, if necessary. Serve over seasoned brown rice.


**Note: I cook my chicken breasts whole because I hate raw meat and prefer to cut the chicken once it’s been cooked so I don’t get too grossed out. If you can cut your chicken into chunks before cooking, by all means do so. I would if I didn’t have such issues with handling raw meat.

Source: adapted from Dr. Joel Fuhrman via Disease Proof