Cilantro Rice with Chicken

A sauce of fresh cilantro, green onions, ginger, and garlic is stirred into the cooked rice to give it intense fragrance and flavor. Shiitake mushrooms add an earthy, smoky flavor.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about 1 cup rice mixture and about 1/4 cup tomato topping)

Ingredients

• Rice:
• 1  tablespoon  olive oil
• 2  cups  quartered shiitake mushroom caps (about 6 ounces)
• 1/4  cup  chopped green onion bottoms
• 1  (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
• 
  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
• 
  Topping:
• 1  teaspoon  olive oil
• 2  cups  grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2  tablespoons  chopped green onion tops
• Cilantro sprigs (optional)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

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° for 25 minutes. Remove from oven; let stand, covered, for 10 minutes.

To prepare sauce, place cilantro and next 5 ingredients (cilantro through peeled 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 rice mixture in a large bowl; spoon tomato topping over rice. Garnish with cilantro sprigs, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

339 (18% from fat)

Fat:

6.8g (sat 1.4g,mono 3g,poly 1.3g)

Protein:

25.3g

Carbohydrate:

41.5g

Fiber:

1.8g

Cholesterol:

82mg

Iron:

3.9mg

Sodium:

416mg

Calcium:

44mg