One Pot Herb Butter Chicken and Rice Pilaf

One pot dinners are my jam these days! From soups and stews to casseroles and rice dishes! They are my favorite for easy clean up and prep! There's nothing worse than having to clean up a huge mess after a long busy day.

This One Pot Herb Butter Chicken and Rice Pilaf is such an easy one to throw together and makes for great leftovers as well. Serve it with a side of your favorite seasonal vegetables and it becomes the perfect complete meal!

One Pot Herb Butter Chicken and Rice Pilaf

6 boneless chicken thighs or breasts (skin on or off)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

kosher salt and black pepper

1 1/2 cup white basmati rice (preferably soaked in purified water for 6-8 hours)

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 cup grated zucchini

4 oz (shiitake) mushroom, chopped

2 tsp dried sage leaves, divided in half

2 cups chicken bone broth or water

4 tablespoons salted butter

Instructions In a bowl, toss together the chicken, olive oil, garlic, thyme, rosemary, paprika, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Pour the rice, onion, zucchini, mushroom, and 1 tsp dried sage into a large pot. Pour over 2 cups broth. Add 2 tablespoons butter. Arrange the chicken over the rice and zucchini. Bring the pot to a boil then cover and simmer for 20 minutes, until the rice is fluffy and the chicken is cooked through. If the rice is hard, add 1/3 cup water and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Before serving, melt together the 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tsp dried sage leaves in a skillet set over medium heat. Cook until the butter is browning, 4 minutes. Serve the chicken and rice topped with sage butter. And enjoy!

One food that is becoming more well known for it's nutrient and healing powers are mushrooms. I feel like for most families, including this fungi in their meals is a major turnoff, as they know, without a doubt that either their spouses, children, or themselves won't eat them. However, I am hear to say, that mushrooms can be one of the easiest foods to hide within meals, especially when minced small enough that they essentially take on the texture of the foods you've combined them with, rice being one of them!

Mushrooms have been used for hundreds, if not thousands of years to help promote better health and healing. Shiitake mushrooms are becoming easier to come by at grocery stores as you can now find them in the canned vegetable and even refrigerated sections. These mushrooms are known for their antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal properties. Mushrooms can also help control blood sugar and reduce inflammation in the body as well. Specifically, shiitake mushrooms have the ability to boost the immune system due to the high levels of vitamins and minerals they contain such as B6, vitamin D, manganese, phosphorus, selenium, and zinc to name a few.

We have mushrooms frequently in our meals, I'd even say almost weekly are they present in 1 or two of our dishes we have. In the cooler months, we try to incorporate them even more frequently to help support our bodies immune systems and combat any illnesses that may be going around. After a few tries at adding them in your meals, I think you'll find how easy it is to add these nutrient dense and immune supporting fungi to the menu as well.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

Happy cooking!

Love,

Danielle

P.S.

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