Mushroom chicken with brown basmati rice, red quinoa and roasted chickpeas

Ooooh, do I have a nice dish for you to whip up tonight or sometime in the near future. Mushroom chicken with brown basmati rice, red quinoa and roasted chickpeas is fast, full of flavour and will hit your savoury spot right between the eyes.

This is the final recipe that I have put together for my latest Maizena series and it’s one that I’m sure you’re going to revisit because it’s super good for a casual night in as well as when you’re having people over for supper.

You won’t need a lot to time to put this together, which is always a winning recipe for me. And you can make it even quicker if you get yourself one of those pre-made rice packs, which is what I did. They come in a variety of combinations, but I found that the brown basmati rice with red quinoa works really nicely, adding lots of texture and a nice earthy flavour to the dish.

If you’d like to pair this up with a yummy dessert then I have three awesome ones for you to choose from, all from this series:

Profiteroles filled with creme patisserie topped with chocolate sauce 

Melting Moments Cookies

Brooklyn Blackout Cake

INGREDIENTS: Makes enough to feed four people

· ±500 grams chicken fillets – sliced into strips

· 250mls cream

· 1 x chicken stock pot or cube

· Punnet of mixed mushrooms – washed and sliced

· 1 x teaspoon Maizena cornflour

· A handful of basil (optional)

· 1 x packet pre-made brown basmati rice and red quinoa – any rice of your choice

· 1 tin chickpeas

· Paprika

· 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder (optional, if you don’t have it’s totally cool)

· Salt and pepper to taste

· Full cream Greek yoghurt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 230°C. Drain your chickpeas and then pat them dry with a paper towel. In a bowl, toss chickpeas with a little olive oil and season to taste with a sprinkling of salt and cayenne pepper.
2. Spread them onto a baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes until browned and crunchy. Be sure to start with this step so that once you are done with the rest of the dish your chickpeas are ready! 
3. Next, season your chicken strips with some salt and pepper. Heat up some oil in a saucepan over a moderately high heat and fry them until cooked.
4. Remove the strips from the pan, add a knob of butter and fry up your mushrooms. Add a bit of salt and pepper once they are cooked so they don’t throw out too much water.
5. Once the mushrooms are cooked, add your chicken strips back to your pan with the cream, stock pot/cube, mustard powder and torn up basil. Give it a quick stir and then let it simmer on a low heat for a couple of minutes.
6. Add your Maizena cornflour and stir so that your sauce thickens up good and proper.
7. Let your dish simmer for a bit before removing it from the heat.
8. Heat up your rice and place it in a serving dish before chucking in your roasted chickpeas. Give it a good mix.
9. Get your serving bowls out and place a portion of your brown basmati rice, red quinoa and roasted chickpeas on one side. Then add a nice helping of your mushroom chicken to the other side. Add a dollop of yoghurt to the top and a few basil leaves for some visual effect 🙂 Enjoy!