Creamy Chicken & Cranberry-Pecan Wild Rice

Take a simple chicken-and-rice meal to the next level by jazzing up the rice and rounding it out with a deliciously creamy sauce. With this wine to accompany the chicken, it was a very tasty meal! The glass grapes on the wine bottle are actually napkin holders but I found they look nice on the wine bottle too! They were on sale at our local Peebles store for $1.25 each so I got 4 of this color and 4 light colored ones. I'll show them in a future post. I have a bottle of red and light wine sitting on the counter with the grapes on them which looks very cute. Some raffia could also be added.

Creamy Chicken & Cranberry-Pecan Wild Rice

2 tbs. flour

1/2 tsp. each dried thyme leaves and black pepper

6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves

2 tbs. oil

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup pecan pcs., toasted

6 green onions, sliced, divided

1 pkg. (6oz.) long grain & wild rice side dish, prepared as directed on pkg.

1 cup fat-free reduced sodium chicken broth

6oz. cream cheese, cubed

Mix flour, thyme and pepper; coat chicken with flour mixture. Heat oil in skillet, cook 5 - 6 minutes on each side or until cooked through.

Stir cranberries, pecans and 1/3 cup of the onions into cooked rice; spoon onto serving platter. Remove chicken from skillet, reserving drippings in skillet. Place chicken over rice mixture; cover to keep warm. Add broth to skillet; stir to break up browned bits from bottom of skillet. Add cream cheese, cook 2 to 3 minutes or until cream cheese is melted and sauce starts to thicken, stirring constantly with wire whisk. Spoon some of the sauce over chicken; sprinkle with remaining onions. Serve with remaining sauce on the side.