Fancy Foil Pack Chicken with Toasted Walnut Rice Pilaf

If you've ever been camping a day in your life, you might be familiar with the traditional "foil pack dinner".  Ours is usually the ultimate in easy camp cooking -- a mound of ground beef, topped with an assortment of chopped veggies, followed by some cream of mushroom soup, and salt and pepper.  Not pretty to look at, definitely not something to bring home to mom, but after roughing it all day, it tastes pretty darn good!

I wanted something with that type of ease tonight, so I started brainstorming what else I could put in foil, directly on the oven rack, not the campfire.  My first thought was chicken, followed by a combo of fresh spinach, dried cranberries, and goat cheese.  I also needed a side, so I decided on a toasted walnut brown rice pilaf since I'm trying to keep it healthier here these days.  When I got to our local Kroger in the dried fruit aisle, first the dried cherries caught my eye; then as I thought about the flavors more, the goat cheese and walnuts reminded me of my Fig and Goat Cheese Bruschetta Appetizer (see earlier post).
So figs won the fight and ended up in my basket of goodies.  This is how my foodie mind works.

Anyway, this recipe came together in only 20 minutes; after that, the oven and stovetop do all the work.  So it's a great choice for a weeknight meal, but is stuck-up enough with all its toasted walnuts and dried figs and fresh goat cheese going on, that you could also entertain with it.  If you are a blue cheese fan, that would be an excellent replacement for the goat cheese.  For some it's a deal breaker though, so I stuck with the milder, more universally appealing goat (only 80 calories and 6 grams of fat per serving, by the way).

This is the before shot....

And this is the after.... notice all the brown broth the chicken was poaching in while cooking.  This kept the chicken moist and it's full of flavor, so make sure to pour every last drop of this broth over the rice!

I was able to find Jasmine Brown Rice at our grocery, but any brown rice will do for the pilaf.

Fancy Foil Pack Chicken with Toasted Walnut Rice Pilaf
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of all the icky parts
4 large handfuls (about 4 c.) fresh baby spinach, washed and spun dry
1/3 c. dried figs, stems removed and thinly sliced
4 oz. pkg. of goat cheese, crumbled
1 T. whole grain mustard
1 T. apple cider vinegar
1 T. olive oil
1 T. brown sugar
1/2 t. salt
plus salt and pepper for seasoning chicken

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Make four squares of heavy duty foil (or two layers of regular foil) about 12x12 inches for the chicken packets.  Place prepared chicken breasts, one in center of each packet, and season liberally with salt and fresh ground pepper.  Top each breast with a large handful of spinach, and a heaping tablespoon of sliced figs.  Whisk together the mustard, vinegar, olive oil, sugar and salt.  Pour evenly over each of the four packets (about a tablespoon each).

Set packets aside as you prepare the rice...
1 T. olive oil
1/4 c. walnut pieces
1 c. brown rice
1 1/2 c. water
1 t. salt
Preheat a large saucepan over medium high heat.  Add olive oil and heat until shimmering.  Add walnuts and toast, stirring often, for about 3-4 minutes (you don't want them to burn).  Remove with slotted spoon onto paper towel lined plate until read to serve.  Pour the one cup of rice into the hot oil and stir constantly, lightly toasting the rice, for about 2 minutes.  Add water and salt.  Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 45 minutes.

Bake chicken packets at 400 degrees, directly on middle oven rack, for 45 minutes.

To serve, place a large spoonfull of rice on each plate.  Top with contents of chicken packets, including all the broth.  Top each plate with about 2 T. of crumbled goat cheese and 1 T. of toasted walnuts. Serves 4.