I am exhausted. We just had a week of having family stay with us, and it was really fun, but very tiring. I was even too tired to go out and grab a hamburger, which isn’t like me at all, so I decided to just air fry some chicken thighs and make a quick side.
Air frying the chicken thighs is incredibly easy. I defrost 4 chicken thighs, pat them dry, and rub my favorite rub all over until they are coated. Then I preheat the air fryer to 390 degrees, put the chicken thighs in the basket, spray them lightly with olive oil and air fry them for 15 minutes skin side down, then turn them over and continue air frying them for another 15 minutes. But I’ll go into that in more detail in a later post.
I always have a bowl of my favorite rub handy. I use it on both ribs and chicken, and it is delicious. It is also sugar-free, which I really like. Here is the recipe I use:
All-Purpose Dry Rub
Ingredients
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp black pepper
½ tsp cayenne pepper
I put all the ingredients in a storage bowl, put the cover on the bowl, and shake to thoroughly combine. I love having it on hand so much that I often make a double recipe so I don’t run out.
The chicken thighs are absolutely delicious by themselves, but I wanted to dress them up a bit, so I whipped up some cheesy cauliflower rice as a side dish. It is super easy to make, but it is really cheesy and satisfying, while still retaining much of the texture of the cauliflower. It looks and tastes elegant enough to serve to a group, but is quick and easy for a weeknight dinner. You can make your own cauliflower rice by grating or shredding a fresh cauliflower in a food processor, or you can use frozen cauliflower, but I found a box of 6 pouches of ready-to-use cauliflower at Costco. These pouches are really convenient and tasty, and I always have a few in the pantry. Each pouch is about 2 cups of cauliflower rice, perfect for 2 people, but you can easily double or triple the recipe for larger get-togethers. Here is how I made this side for the two of us:
Cheesy Cauliflower Rice
Ingredients
1 pkg cauliflower rice (mine is 8.46 oz, or just about 2 cups)
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp cream cheese
2 tbsp milk
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt
Instructions
In a non-stick skillet over medium heat, melt the butter, add the olive oil and stir in the cauliflower rice from the packet. Stir until the cauliflower rice is coated. If you make your own cauliflower rice, you will cook it until tender in this step. If you use frozen cauliflower, keep stirring it until completely warmed.
Add the garlic powder and salt. Stir until combined.
Stir in the cream cheese, cheddar cheese and milk. Stir until melted, combined and warmed through, then serve. Delicious!
