Chicken, Mushroom, and Brown Rice Slow Cooker Casserole

Ingredients

• 2 spray(s) cooking spray
• 20 oz uncooked boneless skinless chicken thigh(s), use eight 2 1/2 oz thighs
• 2 cup(s) canned chicken broth, reduced-sodium
• 1/2 pound(s) cremini mushroom(s), sliced
• 1 cup(s) uncooked leek(s), white and pale green parts only, thinly sliced, washed carefully for grit
• 1 cup(s) uncooked carrot(s), thinly sliced
• 1 cup(s) uncooked celery, thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup(s) uncooked long grain brown rice, medium-grain (such as brown Arborio)
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
• 1 tsp dried sage
• 1 tsp table salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

Instructions

1. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; warm over medium heat. Add the chicken thighs and brown, turning once, about 6 minutes; set aside.
2. Combine the remaining ingredients in a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker; nestle the chicken thighs in the mixture. Cover and cook on low for 7 hours. Yields 1 chicken thigh and about 2/3 cup rice-vegetable mixture per serving.
3. Notes
4. Although a slow cooker takes most of the work out of cooking, there?s still no getting around the fact that browned meat adds more flavor to a stew, braise or casserole. Although this recipe calls for the meat to be browned in a separate skillet, there are slow cookers on the market that have inserts that can go right from the stovetop to the cooker, and that means there's one less pan to clean up.