Day 40 - Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice

Slow Cooker Chicken and wild rice, green peas, red grapes.

Forty days, y'all.  Forty days.  That's more than a month!  We could have sailed the ark by now!  But no, cooking is much more fun.

I'm a little shocked I've kept this up so long.  I can't usually even make it all the way through the 40 days of Lent...so this is like a miracle!

Ahem, anyway...lunch...

I had great hopes for this chicken.  Anyone who eats at my house will tell you that chicken and rice is a staple in my kitchen...I have at least 10 variations on it, and they're all fairly different.  Let's see, I make...

1. Grilled chicken and rice with black beans in tomato sauce
2. Chicken and black beans in a paprika cream sauce over saffron rice
3. Baked chicken stuffed with rice and goat cheese
4. Chicken Stir Fry on rice
5. Chicken jambalaya (which necessarily includes rice..although I prefer seafood jambalaya)
6. Chicken in a white wine cream sauce over rice
7. Cheesy chicken casserole with rice and broccoli
8. Ranch chicken casserole with rice and assorted vegetables
9. Chicken and rice casserole with mushroom soup (my mom's version)
10. Chicken and rice soup (again, mom)

...And that's just off the top of my head.  Yeah, I realize some people might call  this a "problem," but really, I just see chicken as my go-to meat and rice as an easy carb staple.  And yes, about half the time I'm using brown rice (which I hate and think tastes like boiled cardboard, but it's good for me).  I don't eat all of these every week, but they come up all the time.  You'll definitely be seeing a few of these on the blog...especially once we start to get cold and comfort-food-weather.

No surprises that this article on the arsenic levels in rice has me worried.

Mom, don't read the article above.  Just trust me. You'll be happier.

Anyhoo, I'm eating rice anyway but I don't have a good chicken and wild rice recipe,  and the few I've tried have been only eh.  But I love a good wild rice blend, so I made this one up based on a number of different internet recipes.

This was better than eh, but only so much.  If you're a foodie, don't try this.  If you're just trying to crank out larger quantities of good, filling food for your kids/roommates/siblings/friends/neighbors/football team, then you might really like this.

I may do some tweaking and let you know what I find. 

Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice

1-2 lb package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or a thigh/breast mix)
1 6oz pkg of long grain and wild rice mix (NOT instant or "quick cook" - I used Uncle Ben's original recipe)
1 can cream of chicken soup + 1 can water
8 oz sour cream
1 onion, chopped
8 oz fresh mushrooms, chopped
2 t tarragon
3 slices  of bacon

In a 4 quart slow cooker, stir together cream of chicken soup, water, and sour cream.  Stir in rice (including spice packet), remaining spices, and mushrooms.  Set heat on low.

In a large pan, cook bacon until crisp and fat rendered.  Remove from pan with slotted spoon; crumble and add to slow cooker.  In the remaining bacon renderings, saute onion for about 5 minutes, or until it becomes translucent; transfer with slotted spoon into slow cooker  In the remaining bacon renderings (if none are left, feel free to add oil or cooking spray), brown the chicken on each side on medium high heat until just golden; transfer to slow cooker, and fold in the entire mixture gently.  Replace lid of slow cooker and continue to cook on low for 5 hours.  Serve immediately.