Parmesan "Ficken" and Rice Casserole

This is not the red sauce Chicken Parmesan you may be thinking of. Oh no. This is a wonderfully simple and delicious dish using Parmesan cheese and a bit of whipping cream to for a casserole. We had this on Monday night and I modified the dish a little bit from the original recipe found in Cooking Light. The obvious change is using fake chicken. The second modification is replacing boil-in bag brown rice (yuck) with real wild rice (yum!). This of course adds a bit of time to the preparation, but well worth it for the added flavor and nutrition.

Parmesan "Ficken" and Rice Casserole

1 cup chopped onion

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup wild rice, uncooked

1 1/2 cups veggie broth

1/3 cup dry white wine OR white cooking wine

1 package veggie delight patties, cut into quarters

1/2 tsp dried thyme OR 1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped

1/2 tsp salt

3 TBS whipping cream

1/3 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Cook rice in veggie broth for 45 - 50 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Set aside.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over med-high heat. Saute onion for about 3 minutes, then add garlic. Cook until onion begins to brown. Deglaze pan with the wine, cook about 3o seconds. Stir in rice. Remove from heat.

3. Spoon rice mixture into a 13 X 9 inch baking dish. Arrange veggie chicken on the top, sprinkling with thyme and salt. Pour cream evenly over the chicken and rice mixture.

4. Bake for 25 minutes at 425 degrees. Sprinkle with cheese and bake an additional 5 minutes.

This was great with Green Beans Tarragon as a side dish. Look back in my blog archive to find the recipe.