This month I was assigned the blog, Not Rachael Ray. After looking through Rachael's blog, I settled on making cranberry wild rice. I usually sit to basics when I make sides, but this was very intriguing and different. I swapped out the walnuts for pecans and used a mix of long grain and wild rice. As I was planning my menu for the week, I had a pack of frozen chicken thighs and didn't know what to do with them...so off to see if Rachael had a recipe. Of course- honey-balsamic chicken thighs. I doubled the sauce mixture as I had 8 chicken thighs - gotta love leftovers for quick lunches!
So needless to say, this month is a SRC special treat - 2 recipes!
Honey-Balsamic Chicken Thighs
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 large garlic clove, minced
Peheat the oven to 375 degrees. With the skin sides up, place the chicken in a small roasing pan. Season with salt and pepper. Bake the thighs until the skin is crispy and the juices run clean, approximately 40-45 minutes.
While the chicken is roasting, combine the oil, honey, vinegar and garlic in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and stir occasionally until the sauce has thickened slightly. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper. Allow to stand 5 minutes to cool slighly before basting each thigh with glaze.
Cranberry Wild Rice
1 box long grain & wild rice mix
water/butter/salt according to rice package
1/2 cup of dried cranberries
1/2 cup of chopped pecans
Prepare rice as directed on package except add in dried cranberries with the rice. I bought a box of Near East long grain & wild rice mix. It called to cook the rice for 25-30 minutes.
As the rice is cooking, toast the pecans in a dry frying pan over medium high heat. Be careful and watch them closely as nuts tend to burn quickly. Once cooked, remove them from the pan.
Serve a scoop of rice with the chicken thighs and garnish with the toasted pecans.
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