Cilantro Rice with Chicken

I arrived back home today from work and Paul had planned dinner for tonight and tomorrow night. Tonight he was making one of his favourites form the Cooking Light Magazine: Cilantro Rice with Chicken. For this recipe 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. We have had this a few times and really enjoy the flavours. There are those who do not like cilantro - we do not fit into that category - we love it so much that we even add it into salads!

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)

Preheat oven to 350°.

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

CALORIES 339 (18% from fat); FAT 6.8g (sat 1.4g,mono 3g,poly 1.3g); PROTEIN 25.3g; CHOLESTEROL 82mg; CALCIUM 44mg; SODIUM 416mg; FIBER 1.8g; IRON 3.9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 41.5g

Cooking Light, MARCH 2002

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.