Mom says she found this recipe on-line after she had WAY too much leftover thanksgiving turkey. This was one way to start plowing through it all. I make it with both turkey and chicken, depending on the time of year. In spite of a daunting list of ingredients, it’s one of my favorite dinners. It has lots of my wonderful things in it, but mostly it has balance. It’s mostly creamy, with almond bits that give it crunch and character. It is mostly rice, but has veggies mixed in so you don’t feel compelled to serve it with a side veggie. It can be cooked immediately or you can make it a couple of days in advance and then cooked later for an easy weeknight meal for family or friends. And, let’s face it, it’s just plain delicious.

wild rice chicken supreme

1 6-oz package Uncle Ben’s Original Long Grain Wild Rice
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup flour
1 tsp salt
dash black pepper
1 cup half and half
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups cubed chicken (or turkey, post holidays!)
1/3 cup diced roasted red peppers
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 400.

Cook the wild rice according to the directions on the package.

While the rice is cooking, prep your ingredients. The rest of the cooking process goes so much more smoothly if you do!

While rice is cooking, melt butter in a large sauce pan. Add onion and cook over low heat until tender. Stir in flour, salt and pepper (it’ll be really clumpy).

Add the half and half a little bit at a time, forming a roux (a paste). If you add all the liquids at once, they’ll never get absorbed. The trick is to add a little bit, stir until absorbed, and add more and stir more. Then add the chicken broth, using the same “add a bit, stir a bit” process.

Add the wild rice to the roux and mix well. Now add the parsley, chicken, peppers, and almonds. Mix well.Pour into your greased casserole dish and bake for 40 minutes.

If you have cooked yours for 40 minutes and it’s still not brown along the edges, put it on broil for a couple minutes. Watch it closely, though, because you don’t want it to burn!

Serve hot!