Chicken-Mushroom-Rice Toss

This homey little dinner comes together in minutes thanks to nice shortcuts like boil-in-bag rice, and bottled ginger and garlic. Use Gardein's Tuscan chicken breast, but omit the sauce. You can cook and chop the chicken ahead according to package directions, then just toss with the remaining ingredients in the last step of the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 28 ounces vegan chicken broth (such as Imagine)
• 1 (3.5-ounce) bag boil-in-bag long-grain brown rice
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1/3 cup chopped green onions
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon bottled ground fresh ginger
• 2 cups thinly sliced shiitake mushroom caps
• 1 and 1/2 cups chopped and cooked Gardein Tuscan chicken breast (without sauce)

1. Bring the broth to a boil in a saucepan.  Add the rice and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes.  Drain the rice in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1/4 cup broth.  Discard the remaining broth.  Set the rice and reserved broth aside.

2. Meanwhile, heat the sesame oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the green onions, rice vinegar, garlic, and ginger; saute for 1 minute.  Add the mushrooms and saute for 2 minutes.

3. Stir in the rice, reserved broth, and chicken.  Cook for a final 3 minutes, until the liquid is almost all evaporated, stirring frequently.

Pair this main dish with steamed snow peas, or broccoli tossed with soy sauce and sesame seeds.  Or why not both?

Nutrition Info:
3 servings (1 and 1/2 cups), Calories 395

Tasting Notes:
This is a simple dish, nothing special, but a good mid-week meal. The three ingredients in the title take center stage, but I would increase the ginger and garlic, and add a touch of soy sauce, as otherwise it is a little bland. Baked, seasoned tofu in place of the Gardein chicken might also make for a more flavorful dinner.  I would have liked larger pieces of mushroom, so might try chopped button mushrooms next time, instead of the thin slivers of shiitake. 

Rating:
3

Update:
I took my own advice and made this again with thinly sliced button mushroom caps instead. It made the meal feel heartier, and is my preference over the shiitake version.

I also used the opportunity to cook the rice out of the bag, which I believe helped it soak up a bit more of the broth while cooking, and resulted in a more flavorful meal all around.

Here's the final result: