A tasty but reasonably-quick supper making use of a frozen pair of large chicken breasts, shelf-stable chicken stock, and dry ingredients like rice and orzo. We did eventually grab some mushrooms from the market, and thyme and rosemary from the garden.
We thawed the chicken, and sliced into bite-size chunks. Diced a red onion, and while it was sauteeing, toasted some slivered almonds in a separate pan until lightly browned.
When the onions were softened and slightly browned, transfer to the pan with the almonds, and brown the chicken chunks. When browned, add in the onions and toasted almonds, add a handful of raisins, a couple of chopped prunes, a few chopped cloves of garlic(I used five big cloves, yum!), and a handful of sliced ripe olives.
Add in a half cup of orzo, same amount of rice, and about a cup and a half of low-sodium chicken stock. Nestle a few sprigs of thyme, a sprig of rosemary, and a couple of bay leaves into the liquid, then stir in two tablespoons of seven-spice powder (from a local middle-eastern market or ethnic grocer). Put the lid on the pan and place in a 350F for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, take the lid off the pan and let it continue cooking in the oven for another 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven, remove the thyme and rosemary sprigs, and the bay leaves, and serve with your choice of vegetables (we had steamed broccoli with za'atar spices).
