Mustard Chicken, Greens and Mushroom Risotto
- Unexpected Foodie
- Feb 16, 2016
- 4 min read
I hope everyone had a love-filled Valentine's Day!
To be honest, I believe that Valentine's Day is just a tad over-rated. Flowers and chocolate are always over-priced, restaurants are always over-crowded, and stuffed animals are always over-done.
My suggestion - save money and spend the evening in the comforts of your own home with your loved ones, and test out your cooking skills!
Paired with a fine bottle of wine, and you've got yourself the start to a great night.
This year I get to share mine and my fiance's delicious dinner creations. This offers you a full fledged meal.. your protein, starch AND greens all in one post!
We used Jamie Oliver's 'Meals in Minutes' book for the chicken and greens. Clearly we are not at a 'Jamie Oliver' level because it did not take us mere minutes... more like an hour. But it was delicious nonetheless!
I got the risotto recipe from Giada De Laurentiis's 'Happy Cooking', and modified it just slightly.
Look at that beautiful browning skin on the chicken. Delicious!
And these beautiful greens... so fresh and so clean.
The finished product... A perfect way to spend Valentine's Day. Or any day for that matter!
INGREDIENTS
For the Chicken
- a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
- 4 chicken breasts, skin on, bone removed
- 4 teaspoons English mustard (I used regular yellow mustard)
- 2 leeks , trimmed, rinsed under cold water, halved lengthways and thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic
- a splash of white wine
- drizzle of olive oil
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 large teaspoon whole-grain mustard
For the Greens
- 8 ounces Swiss Chard
- 10 ounces baby spinach
- 1 lemon
For the Risotto
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- approx. 7 cremini mushrooms, sliced (depending on how mushroom-y you like your risotto)
- 2 shallots, minced
- 1 cup Arborio rice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup dry white wine, at room temp.
- 3 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1 teaspoon crumbled dried mint leaves (or 1/4 cup freshly chopped)
- 1/4 cup finely chopped chives
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
DIRECTIONS
For the Chicken
- Place a frying pan on medium heat, and drizzle with olive oil
- Pick and finely chop the leaves from the rosemary sprigs and sprinkle them onto each chicken
- Smear one teaspoon of mustard over each chicken along with some S & P and a drizzle of olive oil
- Massage flavours into the chicken
- Put the chicken breasts in the frying pan skin side down
- Use a slotted spatula to press down on the chicken to help it cook. It should take roughly 18 minutes
- Add leeks into the frying pan, keeping them to one side
- Crush 4 cloves of garlic into the frying pan
- Flip chicken breasts skin side up
-Stir in leeks and add a good splash of white wine to the pan
- Check that the chicken is cooked through, then pour the cream into the pan. Cover the pan with a lid or aluminum, leave it for roughly 6-7 minutes
- Turn heat off and transfer chicken onto a board and slice
- Add 1 heaping teaspoon of whole-grain mustard into the sauce
- Spoon the sauce onto a platter and put the sliced chicken on top (or spoon sauce over top of chicken)
- Drizzle over some olive oil
For the Greens
- Finely slice the Swiss chard stalks
- Wash the leaves
- Put the stalks into a saucepan and cover with boiling water, add a good pinch of salt and put the lid on. Turn burner on medium high
- Add chard leaves to the saucepan after roughly 10 minutes, and add another more boiled water if needed. Let cook for roughly 10 - 12 minutes
- Empty spinach into a colander and pour the chard and the boiling water over the spinach
- Add a swig of olive oil into the saucepan
- Squeeze in the juice of one lemon into saucepan
- Transfer drained greens back into saucepan and toss until well combined
- Season with S & P
For the Risotto
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and butter in a saucepan over high heat
- Add the mushrooms and reduce the heat to medium high
- Cook until mushrooms are soft, a couple of minutes
- Remove to a plate and set aside
- In the same pan, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the shallots, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring regularly
- Add the rice and salt and stir, using a wooden spoon to coat all of the kernels in the oil
- Continue to cook for 3 minutes or until the rice is sizzling
- Add the wine and continue to stir until the wine is almost entirely absorbed
-Continue cooking the rice, adding the broth 1 cup at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition of the broth to be absorbed by the rice before adding the next, until the rice is tender but still firm to the bite and the mixture creamy (roughly 20 minutes)
- Stir in peas, cheese, herbs, pepper, lemon juice and mushrooms
Feel free to make all 3 dishes together, or simply one with your other favourite dishes. However you decide to prepare, enjoy every bite!
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