And pumpkin…. or butternut squash.
I said there might be more. I had some pumpkin in the lurking in the freezer.
Did I mention that I’m getting tired of cooking?
It happens every year around this time. I’ve been doing all of the cooking (winter cooking) for 5 months and I’m ready for a break. Mon mari will be taking over soon (summer cooking) and I am ready to turn the spatula over to him.
In the meantime dinner tends to get easier and easier.
I’m also getting bored with the slow cooker so more is relegated to the oven.
This took a little prep, but then 1 dish in the oven was easy dinner.
Click here to Pin Chicken, Rice and Spinach Gratin
PrintChicken, Rice, and Spinach Gratin
20 minutes of prep then 15 minutes in the oven to finish makes this an easy week-night (or any night) dinner. You could use all spinach and skip the pumpkin
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Category: Gratins
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts (12oz, 360gr) total, cut into small pieces
- 1 medium red onion, chopped
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 8oz (250gr) frozen spinach
- 1 cup (8oz, 250gr) cooked pumpkin
- 1 tbs Dijon mustard
- 3/4 cup (5oz, 150gr) soft goat cheese
- 1/4 cup (1oz, 30gr) shredded cheese
- Rice:
- 1/2 cup (3.3oz, 95gr) quick-cooking brown rice or Basmati rice
- 1 cup (8oz, 240ml) chicken stock
Instructions
- Put rice and stock in a small saucepan.
- Cover and cook over medium heat for length of time on package.
- When done fluff with fork and set aside.
- Heat oil in large skillet.
- Add onion and sauté 3 minutes
- Add chicken and sauté until cooked through, about 8 minutes
- Add spinach and sauté until thawed.
- Add pumpkin, goat cheese and heat until cheese is melted, stirring well to combine
- Put half of the rice in the bottom of a casserole.
- Spread the chicken & vegetables on the rice.
- Top with the rest of the rice.
- Sprinkle with the shredded cheese and bake for 15 minutes 400F (200C).
- Serve.
Notes
I use the goat cheese that comes in the small, square containers. Any herbed cheese (Boursin) would also work. Use cooked pumpkin, butternut squash or all spinach.
Keywords: chicken casserole, chicken rice, spinach gratin
On the positive side my hyacinths are all blooming and our lane is lined with bright yellow daffodils.
On the negative side we have had nothing but high winds and intermittent rain for days…. or maybe weeks.
I noticed the bird feeder on the balcony was empty this afternoon. I went to the barn to get bird seed and walked around the house and up the pool stairs to fill the feeder. It was too windy to open the door to the balcony.
I got back inside the house, looked out and the bird feeder was empty again.
The birds weren’t eating it, the wind was blowing it out of the feeder.I wouldn’t have thought that was possible, but the weather site said we were having ‘a breezy day with winds gusting to 65kph’ That’s about 40 mph for those who need it converted.
The birds will have to find the scattered seed for today.
We’ve had 40mph winds for the past four days. They’re supposed to slow down this week, but with the snow that’s been scraped off the grass from the winds and piled two feet high against the barn, it just makes me not want to even go outside. Miserable.
I’m always the primary cook. Even when hubs grills, I’m still the prep chef. And you’re right. It tends to get old.
It has been a strange late winter…. ~The high winds are unusual. and it’s been cold. I’m normally thinking spring by now. Thankfully, we don’t have the snow to contend with 😉
the Ides of March !!!!
I can happily skip this time of year !