Dutch Oven Chicken and Rice

Served with a sunflower sprout and raspberry salad.

Happy October.  The sun has been shining here this weekend, but the nights have been leaving frost on the windows.  All of the ski movies were in town for a weekend event, and we have been dreaming of winter snow and comfort food.  Chicken and rice is a classic that can be done so many ways.  When I first started visualizing this recipe, I looked to google for inspiration.  I found that to some, chicken and rice was made with cans of cream of mushroom soup.  I knew it was going to take some creativity to come up with a recipe that was delicious and healthy.  This recipe uses chicken thighs for full flavor, but there are no cans of soup around here. The dish is a little time consuming, but requires very little hands on time.

Dutch Oven Chicken and Rice

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4-6 boneless skinless chicken thighs, for a lower fat version use 3 breasts cut in half
• 1 onion, cut into half moons
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup brown basmati rice
• 3 cups chicken stock, homemade preferred
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs, I used sage and parsley
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Heat oil over medium-high heat in large dutch oven.
3. Sear chicken until browned, about 2 minutes per side.
4. Remove chicken from pan and set aside on a plate.
5. Reduce heat to medium and add onions and a pinch of salt.
6. Saute onions until translucent, then reduce to low and allow onions to caramelize.  This should form a fond on the bottom of the pot, as seen in the photo, and the onions should lightly brown (15-20 minutes).

7. Add garlic and mushrooms and stir for 1-2 minutes until garlic is fragrant.

8. Add rice and stir for 1 minute longer until rice is becoming translucent.
9. Stir in 1/2 cup of the stock, scraping all the brown bits off the bottom of the pot.  Add the rest of the stock and nestle the chicken into the vegetables. Sprinkle the herbs on top.

10. Transfer the pot to the oven, and cook 60 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to sit covered for another 30 minutes.  Salt and Pepper to taste and serve warm.