Arroz con Pollo (Mexican chicken and rice)

This recipe uses tomatillo salsa from the previous post (Sauces- tomatoes and tomatillos). And when you have that already this dish is easy and fast to make. I used onions, sweet bell pepper and corn (that I had grilled) from the farm also.

Rinse three cups of rice (I use basmati)  in hot water, drain and let sit. Have all your other ingredients prepped: chop 1 medium sized onion and 3-4 cloves of garlic; cut bell pepper into 1-inch strips; grill corn and strip it off the cob until you have about one and a half cups. Cube 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts- about 1 inch in size. Have on hand one-two cups vegetable or chicken broth and the tomatillo salsa.

  

Optional: Make a dry mexican spice mixture (super handy to have around): dry roast on a pan 2 tablespoons each: cumin, coriander seeds, whole black pepper and dry red chilies until just warm and fragrant. Remove from heat and add to it- 2 tablespoons dry oregano. Combine everything and grind to a powder in a spice grinder. Store in a jar and you can use this forever.

 

Warm olive oil and add onions and garlic and sauté until transparent, the add bell peppers and chicken cubes and continue to sauté. Add roasted corn, one cup tomatillo salsa (maybe a bit more if you like), a tablespoon of mexican spice mix (or more if you like your heat), salt and a spoon of sugar. Mix thoroughly and add in drained rice and broth and water to total 5 cups of liquid altogether. Mix well and cook on medium heat until liquid come to a boil. Give a stir and turn down heat and simmer covered (but leave a crack for steam to escape) until all of the liquid is absorbed. Turn off heat when rice is cooked and let sit covered for 5-10 minutes. Gently fold the rice and serve with slices of avocado, chopped green onion and squeeze of lime.

  

 

Once you have the key starting materials on hand, it really doesn't take long to make this dish. This recipe makes a big pot, enough for multiple meals. You can cut the recipe down- the most important being the rice/liquid (water + broth) ratio. For 2 cups rice, use 3.5 cups liquid total; for 1 cup rice use 1.5 cups total liquid.