Colorful Brown Rice and Chicken With Fall Vegetables

A captivating chicken, brown rice, Brussels sprouts, sweet potato, dried cranberry casserole is topped with sliced almonds. It’s flavored with thyme and a touch of cayenne pepper to enhance your taste buds. It reminds me a bit of Thanksgiving stuffing with a nutty flavor and packed with lots of color. It’s what’s for dinner when you don’t know what else to make and you have all of these items in your pantry and fridge just waiting to be used. If you need to make a gluten-free dish, this is one you will want to try. You could even make it your Thanksgiving stuffing or is that called dressing? In any case, try it, you'll like it!

1 cup of raw brown rice, cooked

1/2 medium onion (1 cup), chopped

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp butter

16 oz package of fresh Brussels Sprouts, ends trimmed and quartered

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

1-1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces

1-2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground pepper

1 tsp dried thyme leaves (or 3 tsp fresh thyme)

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2to 1 cup low-sodium chicken stock

1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries

1/2 cup sliced and toasted almonds

Cook the brown rice and set aside. 1 cup of raw brown rice will make about 2 to 2 1/2 cups of rice. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Saute' onion in 1 Tbsp olive oil until tender in a frying pan with high sides. Add butter to pan and swirl it around the pan to coat. Add the fresh Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes and fry until brown. If you caramelize the sprouts and onions, it will add a rich flavor to your dish. Add cut-up chicken and brown on all sides, pushing vegetables to the sides and top. 

Add salt, pepper, thyme, cayenne pepper and paprika and stir well Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Turn burner to simmer and cover pan, cooking the chicken to doneness and veggies so they are soft enough to eat. This will take about 10-12 minutes.

Add the rice and stir well. You may need a little more chicken stock, but it should not be "soupy, only moist. Add the cranberries and stir well to distribute them.

Grease a 9X12 inch glass baking dish  and scoop rice, chicken and veggie mixture into the baking dish. Sprinkle the almonds on top. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until casserole is hot. You don't want to overbake or it will become dry. You can cover the dish with foil if you need to.

Remove from oven and serve with a salad. 

This makes at least 8 servings. You can keep this for leftovers the next day. Reheat with a  splash of broth to keep it moist.

ANOTHER IDEA: To make this a vegetarian dish, use vegetable stock in place of the chicken stock and leave out the chicken. 

YET ANOTHER IDEA: You could make this as a side-dish for Thanksgiving and it's gluten-free! It would make a delicious Thanksgiving dressing or stuffing.

To make this even nuttier -- throw in some cooked wild rice. Add some celery and garlic. Increase the heat level by adding more cayenne pepper. This recipe has a wonderful flavor!