Coconut Wild rice and chicken thighs

Who doesn’t love a cozy one pot meal?! It seems like majority of the country is freezing over at the moment, so this is the perfect dish to get ya warm and cozy. I am definitely a microwave rice kind of girl but i’m trying to push myself to do more things that scare me and that is cooking with rice, which I’m learning is actually very easy LOL!

It’s gluten free, dairy free, high in protein, and great for meal prep. For this dish, we’re using cultivated wild rice as the base and skin on, bone in chicken thighs for the protein. We’re crisping up the skin on some generously seasoned chicken and using the same pot to cook the rest of the meal.

In the same pot, we’re going to add in some chopped mushrooms, fresh garlic, bone broth, and  coconut milk. The mushrooms give a really nice umami flavor to the coconut milk and bone broth. Once you add the rice to the broth, we’re going to add the chicken thighs back in, a few sprigs of thyme and let it cook on low. 

I served this flavorful chicken and rice dish with arugula, cherry tomatoes, freshly shaved parmesan and it was…. amaaazingggg!!! The best part of this meal was there was only one pot to clean at the end of all of it. 

Ingredients:

1.5 pounds chicken thighs; bone in, skin on

1.5 tbsp avocado oil

1.5 cups of cultivated wild rice

1 can coconut milk 

1 cup chicken bone broth (stock works too)

5 cloves of garlic finely chopped

1.5 cups sliced crimini mushrooms

3 sprigs of thyme 

1 tsp salt

arugula 

cherry tomatoes

parmesan cheese

salt, pepper, garlic powder

Directions:

1. In a medium sized bowl, add in the rice and fill the bowl up with water. Let soak for 30 minutes and then drain the water and rinse. 

2. Heat a large dutch oven or stock pot over medium-high heat and add in the avocado oil

3. While your pot heats up, season your chicken thighs dry and then generously season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. 

4. Sear both sides of the chicken for 3-5 minutes, then remove from the pot and set to the side.

5. Add in the finely chopped garlic cloves and sliced mushrooms to the pot. Cook on medium low heat. Once the mushrooms and garlic start to soften, add in the coconut milk and chicken bone broth. Add the rinsed rice and in a pinch of salt (about a tsp or so)

6. Return your chicken to the pot and place on top of the rice. Add in three sprigs of Thyme, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on. 

7. Remove the chicken from the pot and let the rice cook for another 40 minutes with the lid on or until the rice is fully cooked. 

8. Turn the heat off, add the chicken back to the pot and let the ingredients sit for 15 minutes. 

9. Serve in a bowl with arugula, halved cherry tomatoes, and freshly shaved parmesan cheese.