Thursday, April 27, 2006

Roasted Chicken Risotto


This is what I made last night. I got the recipe from an Allrecipes.com Daily Dish email, and changed it to make it SB-friendly. I used regular long-grain brown rice, and it took nearly 2 hours to cook. Next time I will use the faster-cooking brown or parboiled white.

Roasted Chicken W/ Risotto and Caramelized Onions

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (I left this out)
1 1/2 cups uncooked Arborio rice (I used brown)
1/4 cup dry white wine
7 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter (I left this out)
2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast (I used a deli roasted chicken, chopped)
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onions and saute for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the onions are a dark golden brown. Remove from heat, stir in the balsamic vinegar and set aside.
Heat the remaining oil in a separate large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the rice and mix well. Let heat for about 2 minutes, then pour in the wine. Reduce heat to medium low and start pouring in the broth about 1 cup at a time. Add more broth as each cup is absorbed. Continue in this manner until all the broth is absorbed and the rice is al dente, about 20 minutes.
Stir in the reserved onion mixture and allow to heat through. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and chicken. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and garnish each serving with fresh thyme.

I sauteed some sliced mushrooms with the onion because in our house you can NEVER have too much shrooms! I also added peas to mine, and it was delish!