Cook Time: 20 minutes IF you already have cooked wild rice (60 minutes to prepare this dish, if you need to cook the wild rice, which takes 50 minutes). Clean up time: 10 minutes

20 minutes

4 hearty portions

• 1 Qt saucepan with lid for cooking the mushrooms
• 2 Qt saucepan for cooking the sauce
• 3 Qt saucepan with lid for cooking the rice*
• 8 or 10” skillet with lid for cooking the chicken
• 8×8 glass baking pan or 2-Qt microwave-safe casserole dish

• 2 T olive oil
• 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 pint cremini or button mushrooms, sliced OR 2 large Portobello mushrooms, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1/4 to1/3 cup white wine, on the sweeter side, if possible (Don’t  use cooking wine, because it is loaded with salt)
• 5 T unsalted butter, softened (you will be using some of this butter in several steps of the recipe)
• Salt and your pepper grinder (or coarse pepper)
• 2 T basil, dried, divided
• 2 tsp granulated garlic
• *1 cup uncooked wild rice (will make 2.5 cups cooked)
• 1.5 cups Dijon sauce (here is the recipe. Freeze the other half of the sauce in three 1/2 cup containers to use another time)
• IMPORTANT: read Dijon Sauce recipe to ensure that you have all the ingredients for the sauce

[*Ideally, you have 3 cups of cooked wild rice in your freezer and don’t need to cook any for this recipe. That saves a ton of time for this dish. Having cooked and frozen wild rice would be an example of using my batch cooking technique to save time. If you have frozen rice, heat in microwave about 6 minutes or until very hot and set aside. If that’s not the case, prepare the rice according to this recipe: https://cookinglessonswithjenniferbeggs.com/how-to-make-perfect-wild-rice/

1. Pour olive oil into skillet and add the chicken. Stir to coat chicken with the olive oil. Add 1 T butter, 1 T basil, and the garlic. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken. Place lid on skillet and sauté on medium heat until done. (About 6-8 minutes)  Remove from heat, drain, and set aside.
2. Place mushrooms in the 1-Qt saucepan. Add wine, 2 T unsalted butter, 1 T basil, and 1 tsp salt. Cover and simmer on medium heat until mushrooms are done, stirring occasionally. (They will shrink considerably and release their water.) When mushrooms are done, pour over strainer to drain and return them to the saucepan. Set aside, covered.
3. While everything is cooking, use your 2-Qt saucepan to make Dijon Sauce, according to this recipe. (If you are using my batch cooking technique, you may have some in the freezer. What a time-saver!)  
4. Add chicken to the wild rice. Stir. Add mushrooms. Stir. Add Dijon sauce and a few twists of fresh ground pepper. Stir and taste. Add salt to taste , but you shouldn’t really need any, because the Dijon Sauce should provide enough. Stir.
5. Pour into your microwave-safe dish. Cover and heat 5 minutes in the microwave (while you wash the pans that you used.)

Make-Ahead Plan:  You can cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 2 months. When ready to serve, heat in microwave until hot all the way through. Serving temperature should be over 165F.