Chicken and Wild Rice Pilaf

Base source taken from https://keviniscooking.com/wild-rice-pilaf/

Ingredients:

2 cups chicken broth
2 bay leaves
8 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 cup wild rice rinsed
1 1/2 cups long gge rain white rice
3 tbsp butter
1 medium onion chopped fine
1 large carrot chopped fine
kosher salt
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup pecans
2 tbsp fresh parsley leaves minced


Instructions:

• Boil chicken broth, bay leaves, and a bundle of thyme in a pan over medium-high heat. Then add rinsed wild rice and cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer till rice is tender and has absorbed most of the liquid, about 40 minutes. Keep covered and set aside.
• Rinse white rice in a strainer and drain
• Heat butter in a medium saucepan for a couple minutes before adding onion, carrot, and a tablespoon of salt. Cook and stir until softened but not browned.
• Add white rice and stir to coat the rice with butter. Cook for another 3 minutes. Add 2 1/4 cup boiling water and another thyme bundle to rice and return to boil. Reduce heat, and add cranberries evenly over rice. Cover and simmer for another 18 minutes.
• Combine both rices, pecans, and parsley in a large bowl. Toss and add salt and pepper to taste.

Weekly technique:

The weekly technique was whole grains, which is what was used in this recipe. I actually swapped the white rice for brown rice too. Partly because of the weekly technique but also because my partner is a Celiac and she gets to benefit from my assignments. 

Reflection:

I made a number of small changes to this recipe. The biggest one was swapping out white rice for brown rice which made this a healthier meal. In addition, grilled chicken with olive oil was cooked separately and cut into chunks. It was added to the existing recipe to make it more of a meal than a side dish. Since there were already thyme flakes in our cupboard, I estimated that (about 1/2 tbsp) rather than bundles. And I substituted the chicken broth for buillon (2 cups water, 2 teaspoons buillon). It turned out really well and ended up being multiple meals!