When a recipe calls for 25 cloves of garlic I sit up and take notice. Now I love garlic, don’t get me wrong, but I really don’t want it to be seeping out my pores – although that may already be the case. You certainly knew that was the case when my Uncle Angelo walked into a room!
This year I decided to grow our own garlic. I’ve been unhappy with the varieties I’ve been able to find at the grocery store during the winter. Spring farmer’s markets can’t get here fast enough.
A few years ago I learned about garlic scapes. They are the long green stem that look like chives. I’ve started finding recipes that are using these scapes. What is great about them is that they can be cut periodically while the garlic is growing and it doesn’t hurt the plant.
There are three types of varieties of garlic: softneck, stiffneck, and great-headed (elephant). Most types are about 90 days to harvest according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac. I think mine will take double that time to mature. It’s been a colder than normal winter in the Northwest.
The garlic capital of California is Gilroy and if you even just drive past that city in the heat of summer, I guarantee you will get a whiff of garlic wafting through the air. I’ve been to the Garlic Festival a few times (Gilroy hosts this every year). My Uncle Lou who owned and operated a pasta factory had a booth at this festival for many years. He made garlic pasta especially for this event.
Today’s recipe comes from America’s Test Kitchen. I test recipes for them occasionally and this one was worthy of a blog.
This is my “trinity” even though it’s four ingredients. I put these in a lot of my recipes.
Adding in wild rice to the vegetable mixture.
Chicken cut up and ready to be added to the pan.
Original recipe includes spinach but hubby not a fan of cooked spinach so left it out.
I also liked this recipe because it is a one-pot meal and had a wonderful garlic flavor, but surprisingly not overwhelming.
Serves 6
Save RecipeIngredients
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 25 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch-thick
- 1 onion, chopped fine
- 1 celery rib, minced
- Salt and pepper
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
- 1 teaspoon tomato paste
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 2/3 cup wild rice
- 2 (6- to 8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of all visible fat and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
- 3 cups (3 ounces) baby spinach
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Heat oil and garlic in Dutch oven over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until garlic is light golden, a few minutes.
- Increase heat to medium. Add carrots, onion, celery, and 1/4 teaspoon salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are just beginning to brown, 10 to 12 minutes.
- Stir in thyme and tomato paste and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Then stir in broth and add bay leaves, scraping up any browned bits, and bring to simmer.
- Add in rice, return to simmer, cover, and cook over medium-low heat until rice is tender, 30 to 50 minutes.
- Discard bay leaves. Stir in chicken and spinach and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through and spinach is wilted, 10-15 minutes.
- Turn off heat, stir in parsley (if using) and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Nutrition