Cilantro Rice with Chicken

AP/"The Best of Cooking Light 4," a special edition of Cooking Light magazine
Published: Monday, April 3, 2006 2:47 p.m. MDT

Main Dishes > Chicken > Cilantro Rice with Chicken

Ingredients

For the rice and chicken:
1 tablespoon oil
2 cups quartered shiitake mushroom caps (about 6 ounces)
1/4 cup chopped green onion bottoms
1/2-inch piece peeled fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 cups uncooked long-grain rice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 1 3/4 pounds), cut into bite-sized pieces
3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth


Directions

For the sauce:

2 cups loosely packed cilantro leaves

1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

2 tablespoons chopped green onion tops

1 teaspoon chopped peeled fresh ginger

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 garlic clove, peeled

For the topping:

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

2 tablespoons chopped green onion tops

Cilantro sprigs (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F.

To prepare rice: Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add mushrooms, green onion bottoms, ginger piece and crushed garlic; cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in rice, cumin and chicken; cook 1 minute. Stir in broth; bring to a boil. Cover and bake at 350 F for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes.

To prepare sauce: Place cilantro, broth, green onion, chopped ginger, salt and garlic clove in a food processor or blender; process until smooth. Stir into rice mixture. Discard ginger piece.

To prepare topping: Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a medium skillet over medium-low heat. Add tomatoes; cook 2 minutes. Stir in 2 tablespoons green onion tops. Place the rice mixture in a large bowl, and spoon tomato topping over rice. Garnish with cilantro sprigs, if desired. Makes 8 servings (each about 1 cup rice mixture and about 1/4 cup tomato topping).

Nutrition information per serving: 39 cal., 6.8 g fat (1.4 g saturated), 25.3 g pro., 41.5 g carbo., 1.8 g fiber, 82 mg chol., 416 mg sodium.