Cooking with Less: One-Pot Chicken with Rice & Mushrooms

If a recipe is relatively good for you, is going to taste good, and I know the Peanut will eat it, I'm all in. If I can do it in one pot/pan, minimizing the mess and subsequent cleanup, it also has me at hello.

So I often turn to Cooking Light to see which recipes meet the above criteria, especially when I get tired of my staple meals. It pretty much always comes through for me. So this is how I DKLified a healthy, delicious, one-pot meal that Peanut loved. 

Thanks for the picture, Cooking Light

Ingredients

• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 1/2 lbs. skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, sliced
• 3/4 cup uncooked brown basmati rice
• 2 cups frozen green peas, thawed

Preparation

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to pan; swirl to coat. Sprinkle chicken evenly with paprika, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken mixture to pan; sauté for 5 minutes or until chicken is browned, stirring occasionally. Remove chicken from pan.

2. Return pan to medium-high heat. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion and mushrooms; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper; sauté 4 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Stir in chicken stock and rice; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer gently for 35 minutes. Stir in the reserved chicken, peas, and thyme. Cover and cook 10 minutes or until rice is tender and chicken is done.

Making it Peanut-friendly

• Because of the rice, it takes about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes to make this. Time is always a factor for me since I cook when I get home from work. So it may be best for a weekend day or a day where you have some extra time.
• Peanut doesn't eat mushrooms. (Show me a child that does. I didn't until I was in high school.)  But she loves peas, which makes this recipe a hit with her.
• The original recipe, which I linked above, includes some extra steps and ingredients that I found unnecessary and even more time-consuming.

Enjoy!