ABC (Anyoha Boiled Chicken) - Rec1pe.3

Boiled chicken needs some rebranding because this SLAPS. Chicken-ala-Rockwell, while it’s still incredible and maintains superior visual appeal, is outdated technology. ABC is easier to cook, has even MORE flavor, is WAY juicier, healthier, AND more flexible. I’m not sure what took me so long to realize this (probably due to the stigma of boiled chicken being bland and boring), but better late than never. This is a recipe will serve as the foundation of more complicated dishes, so it’s important to get it down and integrated into your routine of healthy cooking and eating!

Food Ingredients

1. boneless, skinless, chicken breast (~4 oz per serving)

2. salt

3. pepper

4. paprika

5. cyan pepper

6. curry powder

7. garam masala

8. rosemary

9. basil

Cooking Tools

1. pot

2. cutting board (optional if using scissors and prefer to free hand cut)

3. knife (or scissors)

4. tongs (or something to pick up the chicken)

Protocol

The technology may be new, but ABC embodies the fundamental principles of a classic Rockwell recipe -> Bang 👏🏾 For 👏🏾 Buck 👏🏾. The idea is to have a repertoire of home cooked meals that are healthy, affordable, and have low activation energy.

1. Wash hands and assemble ingredients and tools. t=30

2. Prepare chicken. t=90

• Remove giblets from chicken breasts and cut them in half if they are big pieces! One serving of chicken is 4 ounces, so if you have a pound of chicken breast (typically two or three breasts), you should end up with 4 pieces.

3. Wash and dry hands. t=110

4. Add seasoning directly to the pot (I’m not going to lie; I typically eyeball my spices. BUT, for the purposes of this recipe, below is a general quantification of what I add). t=170

• Salt - 2 tablespoons

• Black Pepper – 3 tablespoons

• Paprika – 1 tablespoon

• Cyan pepper – 1 tablespoon

• Curry powder – 2 tablespoons

• Garam masala – 2 tablespoons

• Rosemary – 1 tablespoon

• Basil – 1 tablespoon

5. Add 4 cups of cold water to the pot. t=200

• The important thing here is that enough water is added to barely cover the chicken. For me this ends up being around 4 cups.

6. Poke a shallow hole in each piece of chicken (with knife or fork) then put them directly into the pot. t=210

• I haven’t done careful experimentation so this may be a superstitious step, however I find empirically that it does help a smidge with flavor absorption.

7. (optional) Let chicken soak in the pot and put the pot in the fridge! (hands off)

• 30 minutes of soaking is enough really increase the flavor, 2 hours is when you’re about 95% there, 12 hours is the very upper limit of how long you’d want this to soak (too long and the texture will become rubbery!)

*The way I integrate this into my routine is as follows: In the morning, I wake up and boil water for tea. By the time the water is finished boiling, I've done the steps above. Then I boil the chicken either: after walking my dog (1-2 hour soak), during lunchtime (4-6 hour soak), or for dinner (8-12 hour soak).

8. Boil for 8 minutes.

• Put the pot on the burner and start a timer from when the water starts to boil. I personally set a timer for 12 minutes and don’t watch for when the boiling “starts”.

9. FIN!

• You now have INCREDIBLE JIUCY AND FLAVORFUL chicken that can be served with a variety of things and in a variety of ways (with vegetables and/or grains or in wraps, salads, soups, or bowls). Stick whatever you aren't using in a Tupperware and enjoy the rest during the week!

Here is the result in a Tupperware along with two ways that I enjoyed ABC this week! EAT UP!

Evaluation

Yumminess: 4/5

• It is so juicy and so flavorful. I can eat this with plain white rice, with an arugula salad, or with some vegetables on the side and I'm good.

Satisfaction: 5/5

• It's incredible how much 4 ounces of chicken will fill you up. It holds a significant amount of water and salt. Couple that with the high amount of protein which leaves you super full. But if you're feeling RAVENOUS...just have TWO pieces. It's only 160 calories per serving ;). Just be careful with the food that "surrounds" the chicken.

Hands on Time: 4/5

• my (harsh) rating scale is based on hands on times of less than or equal to: 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, or 15 minutes (anything higher is a ZERO)

Cooking Time: 4/5

• my rating scale is based cook times of less than or equal to: 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, or more than 1 hour

Cost: 4/5

• my rating scale is based on per serving costs of less than or equal to: 2 dollars, 4 dollars, 6 dollars, 8 dollars, or 10 dollars (anything high is a ZERO)

• cost is ~$2.25 for 4oz chicken breast + ~$.25 for spices= ~$2.50

Calories: 160 (150 for 4oz chicken breast + 10 for spices)

Thanks for reading! Please report with feedback and suggestions. As a parting question to the readers, what vegetables, grains, or sauces do you like to eat with your chicken?!

-Rockwell