Chicken and Shrimp Scampi Bake

This is the dinner that almost didn't happen. As in I called John and said, "Do you want pizza or sandwiches tonight? I think I'm ordering in... this dinner looks like it's not working out." He told me to persevere (he's quite the cheerleader) so I listened... and I triumphed. Victoriously. Because for real, this is GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD. Yes, all caps, extra "o"s, good. But let's rewind to why I thought it wouldn't work. For starters I used too much liquid (don't worry- the recipe is modified so you won't have the same issue). Due to the liquid surplus it took forever for the rice to absorb it all. I then got somewhat impatient (me???) and threw the shrimp in too early. On top of that I realized my panko mixture had soy protein in it (Landon's allergic to soy) and had to toss my breading and start again with a soyless breading. After all of this I was seriously envisioning a pizza on the couch. But I didn't give up. I let it keep going. I stopped checking every five minutes and grunting when it still looked like gross rice soup. And eventually... eventually it worked. And when it worked, boy did it work.

I took the first taste of the rice and I said, "Even if the shrimp and chicken are horrible I can live on this rice." John came in and stole some rice and we both agreed it was a party in our tummy- so yummy, so yummy! (If you don't get that reference you don't have a young child at home- but believe me, you're not missing much.) This dinner ended up being really special. It had so many layers of flavor and it felt like a fancy dinner, when really the oven does all the work!

Source: Stephanie Cooks Original

Ingredients:
6 ounces chicken, diced into bite sized pieces
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup rice
2 cup chicken broth
8-10 large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tail removed
2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 tbsp butter, softened
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
Dried parsley

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 350.
2- In a small bowl combine the paprika, parsley, onion and garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir well.
3- Press the chicken into the rub mixture and set aside.
4- In a medium sized baking dish pour in the dry rice. Top with the chicken. Cover with the 2 cups of chicken broth. Bake, covered, until the rice is almost fully cooked and the broth is almost completely absorbed, about 30-35 minutes.
5- Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the shrimp, garlic, and oil. Pour the shrimp mixture over the rice mixture, being sure to evenly distribute the shrimp. Bake an additional 5-7 minutes, until the shrimp are almost completely cooked.
6- Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the softened butter and breadcrumbs with a fork until the butter and crumbs create a crumble. Remove the dish from the oven, top with the crumb butter and a dash of dried parsley, and set under the broiler for about 2 minutes, until the butter is melted and the crumbs are golden. Keep a close eye on it.