Liz's Livelihood: Cajun Chicken and "Clean" Dirty Rice

I just bought a new Creole Cajun Seasoning from the store and had recently purchased a whole chicken on sale. These ingredients inspired me to make a Creole inspired dish. I decided to make our meal even more authentic by making my own version of dirty rice. The difference with my dirty rice is that I did not grind up the chicken gizzards and chicken liver to mix in the rice. Instead, I sauteed the veggies with the gizzards and liver to gather the flavors before removing them so that we would not have to eat the chicken gizzards and chicken liver, hence the name "clean" dirty rice. This meal turned out pretty good and Nick loved my "clean" dirty rice.

Ingredients:

Chicken:
1 3-4 lb whole chicken
chicken gizzards and liver, set aside
4-6 russet potatoes, cut into fourths
1 white onion, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp Creole Cajun seasoning, divided
1/2 cup water

Rice:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup mushrooms, rinsed and chopped fine (optional)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped fine (optional)
chicken gizzards and liver
2 cups uncooked white rice
4 cups chicken broth (I used 2 cups chicken juices from slow cooker and 2 cups water)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp Creole Cajun Seasoning
1 cup thinly sliced green onions

Directions:
1. Unwrap chicken and remove gizzards and livers and set aside in fridge for use in rice later.
2. Place potatoes and onions into slow cooker and sprinkle them with Cajun seasoning and mix around. Add water to bottom of slow cooker. Next, place the chicken on top of potatoes, stuff chicken with lemon slices. Then sprinkle all sides of chicken with oil and cajun seasoning, rub into the skin of the chicken and even under if you can.

3. Cover and cook on LOW for 3 hours or HIGH for 6 hours. Chicken is done when the legs move easily in their sockets and the internal temperature of the breast has reached 160 degrees F.

4. Once chicken is fully cooked, turn slow cooker to WARM setting and begin preparing rice.
5. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large saucepan to medium heat. Saute onions, garlic, mushrooms, and red bell pepper for 5 minutes. Add gizzards and liver to pan, continue sauteing of vegetables, stirring constantly, until meat begins to brown and onions are translucent (about 5 minutes). Remove gizzards and liver and discard.

6. Add rice and stir until coated with oil. Add broth, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and cajun seasoning. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Cover and cook about 20 minutes, until rice has absorbed liquid.