Blackened chicken:
Two boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 teaspoon Paprika
½ teaspoon of Cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon of cumin
½ teaspoon of sea salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper
½ teaspoon of onion powder
1 pinch of fresh or dried thyme
2-3 tablespoons of avocado or canola oil
Wild rice:
1 cup of wild rice
4 cups of water
1 stalk of celery
1 small red pepper-diced
1 teaspoon of salted butter
Juice of one lemon
To make this, you need a thick pan made of either cast iron or stainless steel. Aluminum non-stick will not get hot enough.
Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees convection or 375 degrees non-convection.
Heat the pan with the two tablespoons of oil until it begins to smoke.
While you are preheating, mix all the spices onto a plate. Coat the chicken breasts with the remaining oil, then pat the breasts into the spice mixture. Avoid moving the spice mixture around, just keep patting the chicken until it is covered.
Sear the chicken for one minute per side until you see a char on each side and the outside is carmelized. Then transfer the breasts into the oven until the internal temperature is 165 degrees.
For the wild rice mixture, bring the water to a rolling boil, then add the rinsed rice. Return to a gentle simmer and continue to cook until the husks of the rice have started to pop, about 40 minutes. When the rice is ready, strain any excess water, but do not rinse the rice. The husk flavor is delicious. In butter, gently sauté the celery and red pepper.
Finish with a light deglaze of lemon juice. Remove from the heat then stir in the wild rice.
Serve the blackened chicken on top of the wild rice mixture and enjoy.
Sponsor: Duerden’s Appliance
