Recipe of the Week: Sausage Brown Rice Stuffing with Celery and Mushrooms

Instead of the traditional bread based stuffing, I made a naturally gluten-free stuffing for Thanksgiving made from brown rice.  It was pretty tasty, but doesn't completely replace regular stuffing. It would also be excellent in an acorn squash with some maple syrup.  You can find the recipe here.

 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups brown rice
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 1 chicken bouillon 
• 5 links raw sweet Italian sausage
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 6 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 16 oz sliced fresh mushrooms
• salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cook brown rice in water and chicken bouillon according to package directions.
2. While the rice is cooking, in a large heavy saute pan cook chicken sausage on medium heat, breaking up the meat into small pieces as it cooks until the sausage is cooked through and is browned. Set aside on a dish.
3. Add olive oil to the pan and add the onion, sauté one minute, add the celery, salt and pepper to taste; cook about 12 minutes, until celery is soft.
4. Add the mushrooms to the pan, more salt and pepper if needed and cook, stirring 5 minutes, then cook covered for 2 minutes, or until the mushrooms have released their juice and are cooked through. Add the sausage and the cooked rice to the pan and mix well.