Jamaican Jerked Chicken with Rice and Peas

This is a pretty easy meal to make. Marinating something overnight is a very wonderful way to lock in flavors on a particular food, such as chicken!

The rice and peas are also quite simple!

What You Need:

For the rice and peas:

2 cups rice.

4 cups of water.

1 can pigeon peas or any small bean.

5 cloves fresh garlic.

3 scallions.

1 cup coconut milk.

1 teaspoon salt.

1 teaspoon pepper.

1/2 teaspoon thyme.

​​For the chicken:

3 chicken breasts

Jamaican jerk marinade

Prepare your chicken by slicing the chicken into medium thick strips.

Put in a large gallon Ziploc bag, and pour almost all of the marinade into the bag, shake well to coat everything, and leave on the bottom of the fridge until the next afternoon! 

The following day, prepare your rice and peas! Mince or crush your garlic finely, wash and cut scallions into small pieces, big enough to just crush them. I would say about as large as a thumb nail.  Drain and rinse the pigeon peas before adding to the rice. Measure out coconut milk.

Using a large sauce pan, bring 4 cups of water to a light boil, and add in 2 cups of rice. Add in your cup of coconut milk, salt, pepper, thyme, fresh garlic, pigeon peas and crushed scallions. This will take about 30-45 minutes to cook down. Keep the heat on a low medium setting to not burn the rice, and to prevent it from sticking to the bottom. Stir every 5-10 minutes.  

​While the rice and peas are cooking, start your grill! Remove the chicken from the fridge, and place on a cutting board. Allow the grill to heat up to 400° before placing the chicken. I used a little bit of Pam Grilling spray before grilling the chicken. Since the chicken are in smaller, thinner pieces, it should take the chicken about 20- 35 minutes to cook. Flip the chicken once the grill has gone back up to 350° each time you open the lid. Remember to check on the rice and peas!

Once the chicken and rice are done, serve it up! I like chicken on a rice bed personally, or just mixed up in the rice!

​Enjoy!

Chicken is ready for the overnight bath in marinade.

Today, after a overnight bath, the chicken is ready to be grilled.

 

The rice and peas just starting to cook.

Chicken grilling in the beautiful sunshine!

Finished chicken on top of the rice and peas!