There's always room in our cooking arsenal for one more one-pot meal. This colorful chicken and rice dish is as flavorful as it is colorful.
Combine the chicken and marinade ingredients in a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate and marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes up to several hours.
In a large cast iron skillet (or pot) heat the butter (if using) along with 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken pieces on both sides, reserving the marinade for use later. This will take 3-4 minutes for each side. While browning the chicken I like to add a few more dashes each of Italian seasoning, hot sauce and granulated garlic but you can skip this step.
When the chicken pieces have browned, remove them from the skillet and set aside. If too much oil and/or chicken juices have settled in the skillet you can pour off most of it, leaving most of the flavorful bits and just enough oil for the rice. (Alternatively, you can leave all the liquid in the skillet--this may just make for a bit oilier finished dish than you might prefer.)
Add the uncooked rice and stir in the pan to collect the browned bits at the bottom of the skillet, one to two minutes, then add the tomatoes and cook for an additional minute. The rice will pick up a lot of color during this time. Add the liquid (stock and/or water) and the reserved marinade (should be about 1/2 cup) for a total of two cups of liquid to cook the rice. Bring the liquid to a boil.
Reduce the heat to a simmer then add back the chicken, arranging the pieces on top of the rice. Cover and simmer for five minutes then add the bell pepper and half of the green onions (if using). Cover and cook until the rice is tender, about 15 minutes, checking for doneness at the 10 minute mark. If all the liquid is absorbed before the rice is cooked, add more liquid in 1/4 cup increments (you shouldn't need more than an additional half cup).
Garnish with lemon wedges and the remaining green onions and serve warm.
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