Recipe Chicken and Wild Rice, Red Rice, and Mushrooms

[Mountain Cat]

You can always sub out the chicken for tofu or tempeh. The photo is of the whole endeavor, which should certainly serve two.

I went with chicken thighs, but you can also use chicken breast should you prefer.
The inspiration recipe was found at Saving Room for Dessert, although this is hardly a dessert. (I tend to prefer to save room for recipes such as the below...) I was not religious about following this recipe, so do lay any fault at my feet, not at the recipe's... Since I cooked my rice in a rice cooker, and not in the skillet they recommended, this is certainly not their recipe, but I did get much inspiration here.

Chicken Wild Rice Casserole - Saving Room for Dessert

While wild rice (not actually a rice, after all) is a bit pricey, red rice is reasonably inexpensive especially if you source it at an Asian market.

• Cooking oil, about 4 tablespoons.
• 7 ounces / 200 grams boneless, skinless chicken thighs, fat removed, and cut into chunks. You can sub with breast.
• 1 small onion, diced.
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 or 2 cloves minced garlic.
• salt and pepper to taste.
• 5 ounces / 140 grams fresh mushrooms, tough stems removed if they exist, prior to weighing. Choose from shiitake, oyster, baby bella, or white mushrooms
• 0.5 cup / 120 mL wild rice / red rice blend. I used a 1:1 mix.
• 0,5 cup / 120 mL water (or low sodium chicken or veggie broth).
• 0.5 cup / 120 mL dry sherry (you can sub with water or broth, if so, I'd add a dash of lemon.)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme, (or 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves)
• 3/4 cup / 180 mL whole milk
• OPTIONAL slivers of bell pepper and/or halved grape tomatoes.

Instructions:

Soak the rice mixture, then rinse and drain until the rice yields clear liquid. (While the wild rice doesn't need soaking, most other rice you might cook it with, probably will.)

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Pat the chicken pieces dry with a paper towel. Dust with a little salt and some ground pepper.

In a skillet, heat up a tablespoon or two of cooking oil (I use avocado or grapeseed oil). Pan fry the chicken, about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Lightly browning is good.

You can get the rice cooking in a rice cooker - for 0.5 cups of the above mixture I used a total volume of 1 cup of liquid (1:2 ratio). In this case, 0.5 cups of dry sherry and 0.5 cups of water. Your rice to liquid ratio may depend on the type/s of rice you use. Check packaging.

Remove the chicken to a separate dish, and then cook the onion and celery, adding more cooking oil if needed (I didn't need). This should cook about 6-7 minutes, or until the onion is translucent and the celery is soft. Add the garlic then, and cook for another minute. Remove from the pan, and place with the chicken.

Add a tablespoon more of cooking oil, and then drop in the mushrooms. Stir these until they are cooked, their liquid is gone, and they are browned. Remove them to the plate with the chicken and veggies.

For the white sauce (roux):

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a skillet. Add the flour, 1/4 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon thyme. Cook with constant stirring, for up to two minutes. Then, slowly add the milk, with more stirring or whisking. Do this until the roux is thickened. Do not add the milk quickly as it will clump.

Add the cooked rice to the skillet with the roux, mixing this in. Add the chicken and the cooked veggies, and mix this in as well.

OPTIONALLY, add slivers of bell pepper and/or halved grape tomatoes atop the dish.

Transfer the skillet to the pre-heated oven. Cook for 15-20 minutes.

Allow to bake for about 15 minutes, uncovered.

Remove from oven, allow to rest around ten minutes, then serve. Garnish with parsley.