I made this dish the other night when I defrosted chicken and didn't know what to do with it. I do that a lot, defrost a protein and then wing it with what I have on hand. I find it super fun and creative. This time I used some POM juice, brown rice and spinach. A fabulous combo especially with a little dried tarragon mixed in.
The husband wasn't home when I made it. Hence the experimentation 😉 but the little guy was. He liked the rice but ate chicken legs instead of the chicken pieces in the dish. Why?
Cause he's a crazy 4 year old.. that's why. It's was delicious!
Ingredients
- 4 oz POM juice
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- pinch of kosher salt and ground black pepper
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breast (About a pound)
- About 2 cups cooked brown rice I used one of the 90 second bags)
- 2-3 cups of baby spinach
Instructions
Whisk the POM juice, honey, vinegar, tarragon, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.
Pierce the chicken a few times with a fork and submerge the chicken. Marinate for at at least a half an hour.
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and spray with a non-stick cooking spray.
Place the chicken in the hot pan. It will smoke and sizzle. LEAVE it alone! You are going to sear it for 2 minutes. Do not touch it for 2 minutes.
After 2 minutes flip. The honey will burn a little making this GLORIOUS crusty skin. Cook for another minute.
Remove from heat and cut the chicken into pieces. It will still be pink in the middle. That's ok, we are still going to cook it. We just wanted to get all that yummy flavor.
Return to the heat and add the marinade to deglaze the pan. Bring it to a boil. If your pan is as hot as mine was it will boil immediately.
Add the cooked rice.
Stir in the rice and have it absorb all the flavor.
Add the baby spinach.
Stir in the spinach until it just starts to wilt. Shut off the heat and serve!
📖 Recipe
POM Marinated Chicken with Brown Rice and Spinach
Ingredients
- 4 oz POM juice
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- pinch of kosher salt and ground black pepper
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breast About a pound
- About 2 cups cooked brown rice I used one of the 90 second bags)
- 2-3 cups of baby spinach
Instructions
- Whisk the POM juice, honey, vinegar, tarragon, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.4 oz POM juice, 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon dried tarragon, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon onion powder, pinch of kosher salt and ground black pepper
- Pierce the chicken a few times with a fork and submerge the chicken. Marinate for at at least a half an hour.3 boneless skinless chicken breast
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and spray with a non-stick cooking spray.
- Place the chicken in the hot pan. It will smoke and sizzle. LEAVE it alone! You are going to sear it for 2 minutes. Do not touch it for 2 minutes.
- After 2 minutes flip. The honey will burn a little making this GLORIOUS crusty skin. Cook for another minute.
- Remove from heat and cut the chicken into pieces. It will still be pink in the middle. That's ok, we are still going to cook it. We just wanted to get all that yummy flavor.
- Return to the heat and add the marinade to deglaze the pan. Bring it to a boil. If your pan is as hot as mine was it will boil immediately.
- Add the cooked rice.About 2 cups cooked brown rice I used one of the 90 second bags)
- Stir in the rice and have it absorb all the flavor.
- Add the baby spinach.2-3 cups of baby spinach
- Stir in the spinach until it just starts to wilt. Shut off the heat and serve!
Jana
I made this last night and used 2 tablespoons of honey, 1 1/2 tbsp balsamic one tsp crushed garlic instead of powder, a half tsp salt, and cut up half of a sweet onion (big chunks). All of the onion slices went in the hot pan (drizzled with olive oil). Super delicious . Also, I couldn't find a small container of straight POM so I bought a blueberry pomegranate container. Worked out great!
I made the brown rice and mixed the fresh spinach in as the rice just finished cooking. I also added salt (to taste), fresh cracked pepper and 1/3 cup of sun dried tomato feta cheese! Deelish.
Kathy Sills
How .ong do you boil the chicken pieces after you put the marinade into the pan to completely cook the chicken pieces?
roni
Just a minute or two. Since they are cut up they will cook fast.
roni
Not YET! BUT... it's coming.. now it's really coming. It's one of the reasons why I quit my day job!! 🙂
sherice
Hi Roni,
I made this tonight and i was wonderful. Yum and ewven my partner didn;t complain. I remember awhile back you mentioned something about a cookbook? Did you publish it and if so where can I buy it?
Thanks
Sherice
Carla
Hi Roni! I made this tonight...using Quorn chik'n instead of real meat! It was soooooooo delicious. I've started using Greenlitebites every week when I make my weekly meal plans...it's been super helpful. Thank you!!!
KC
This was so good! Perfect for dinner. I didn't have POM juice so I used Cranberry juice and 2T balsamic vinegar-it was great! A good mix of savory and sweet.
Meghann
If you don't have time to marinate, I bet you could make a pouch with aluminum foil, fill with the chicken, veggies, and the marinade, and bake it. I do this with balsamic vinagrette or italian dressing, and it usually comes out nicely.
Susan
I made this for dinner and loved it! I added extra spinach and marinated the chicken all day. Saving leftovers for lunch tomorrow 🙂
Krista S.
Mama Mia that looks awesome! Is it weird that it's breakfast time here and I want a cup of that? =)
Laura
Yum-o! So going to add this one to my list of recipes to try!
FoodontheTable
That is such a good idea! I've never cooked with POM juice before.
roni
That would totally be delish! I think you could eve use orange juice. It would come out different, of course, but be tasty all the same!
Reinaldo
Sounds yummy! But I dont have POM juice here... any ideas how to replace it with something else? maybe strawberries' juice? Uh-oh, just had a thought, maybe real strawberries, crushed? Mmmmmm
Valerie
I knew I had seen that before! Guess the only originality on my part is the pears! OOOH... and maybe some oragne slices!
Kat
Looks so yummy! I'm also thinking it would be super easy to slip in some Kale without anyone noticing 🙂 Can't wait to try it.
roni
Valerie - I LOVE it on pork too! https://greenlitebites.com/2009/05/15/pomegranate-pork-with-vidalia-onions/
Valerie
My neighbor uses POM over a pork roast and pears in the crockpot. It is DELICIOUS! I would try it with pork chops on the grill; you could marinate the pork chops and also marinate some pears and red onion and grill. I may have to try that. I'm like you; I see a basic recipe and turn it into something else entirely!
shandy (@webgals)
That looks awesome! I wish I could experiment like you with good results.