Project Description

This side dish is a delicious rice alternative, full of great texture and flavours. Don’t let the ingredient list deter you – this dish comes together very easily and can be made ahead to impress at any dinner; weeknight, weekend and when entertaining!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Chicken broth (boxed broth is fine)
• 1 cup brown basmati rice and wild rice mix (roughly 1/8 cup of wild rice and the rest the basmati rice)
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/2 medium onion, finely diced
• 1 stalk of celery, finely diced
• 2 cups sliced cremini mushrooms
• 1 tsp thyme leaves, finely chopped or pinches of dried ground thyme
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 4 grinds of pepper

Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 25 min

Bake Time: 30 min

Lead Time: N/A

Freezer Friendly: No

Leftover Alert: N/A

    1. In a small saucepan bring the chicken broth to a boil, add the rice, quickly mix, cover and turn the heat down to minimum heat. Let cook for 20 minutes.
    2. While the rice is cooking, complete the preparation of the vegetables, preheat the oven to 350 F bake and butter a small casserole dish.
    3. In a separate larger saucepan (you will need enough room to add the semi-cooked rice afterwards), heat up the butter until it starts to sizzle. Add the onions, sauté for 1 minute, then add the celery and mushrooms. Sauté for another 5 -7 minutes or until tender.
    4. Add the thyme, salt and pepper and sauté for another minute to bring out the flavourings of the herb.
    5. Once the 20 minutes have passed for the rice, add it (it should be very runny) to the larger saucepan with the vegetables. Stir well to combine and deglaze the pan and dump the entire contents into the prepared casserole dish. Even out the rice mixture, cover with a glass lid and bake for 30 minutes.
    6. Let the casserole sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. This dish pairs beautifully with the Chicken in Mushroom Wine Sauce.

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The main ingredients for this dish include wild rice and brown basmati rice, celery, mushrooms and onion, cooked in chicken both. Simple ingredients but very tasty!

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While the wild rice and brown basmati rice cooks, prepare the vegetables. Sauté the onion, celery and mushrooms until tender and add the thyme at the end.

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When the rice has completed its first round of cooking, add it, broth and all, to the rice in the saucepan. Mix well then place in a prepared casserole dish. Cover and bake at 350.

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Let the casserole rest for 5-10 minutes before removing the lid and serving.

Unless you have an hour in the weeknight to make dinner this is not something I recommend making from scratch. It is something, thought, that can be made ahead and reheated. So this can easily turn into a quick and delicious side no only to accompany weeknight meals, but also handy when entertaining!