January 27, 2006
Mexican-style Chicken And Rice
I asked the wee wifey to send me this recipe, because it is perfect for the potluck theme I set for the Carnival. It turns out she had never written it up in Mastercook format, so I got an entire blogpost out of her:
This is one of my potluck, as well as at-home, recipes. Easy and cheap to make. Everyone loves it & asks for the recipe. The nurse I work with at night made it for her family and EVERYONE including the picky eaters AND her mother-in-law went for seconds & thirds. She came back grinning ear to ear and said "that's a keeper" and her family normally doesn't like rice. I originally got this off of Christian TV years ago and it was originally made with instant rice but I've adapted it a bit.
Salsa:
Rice:
Chicken Broth (may need, may not)
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast -- cut up in about 1" pieces
Frozen Corn
Onion -- diced
Green Pepper -- diced
Garlic -- minced
a bit of oil
Cheddar cheese
ground chili pepper -- optional
You will need 2 cups of salsa per 1 cup of rice. If you don't have quite enough salsa you can use chicken broth to get the 2 cups liquid to 1 cup rice ratio. I generally bake my rice in the oven or the microwave. I find stove-top cooking tends to burn. If baking in the oven place in a 9x13 pan & cover with foil. Bake for about 45 minutes at 325-350 stir 2-3 times during the baking to keep the top rice from getting crunchy. You can make 3 cups rice & 6 cups salsa in a 9x13 pan. To make in a microwave put your ingredients in a microwave safe container (I use a rubbermaid storage container). Loosely put a top on or wax paper on top. Microwave on high in 5 minute increments. Stir after each 5 minutes. It should take about 15-20 minutes to cook up. After 15 minutes, if the rice is still a bit soupy I would recommend recommend microwaving at 60-90 second increments until done. Once you have done this once you will know what the total cooking time is for your amount of rice/salsa in your microwave. You will still need to cook in 5 minute increments because you will want to stir.
While the rice/salsa is cooking ... cook the frozen corn. Use as much as you like. I tend to use the biggest bag of frozen corn I can find, but let your taste be your guide. Obviously, when done, drain the corn.
Saute the onion, green pepper, garlic & chicken. I generally use 2 onions, 1 green pepper (sometimes 2), 1# chicken breast and 1/4 cup diced garlic (yes you read that right, let's just say that Dracula isn't stopping by for a visit to our house any time soon). I prefer very little chicken, but sometimes I'll put in quite a bit of chicken, so it really depends on how much chicken you want in this dish.
When everything is done, mix everything including the cheddar together. We like cheese here so I use a good sized bag. Stir until the cheese melts.
I don't use salt & pepper in this dish as there is salt in the salsa & chicken broth. If you want salt, add some, although no one I have given this recipe to, does add additional salt. If you like things spicier add some ground chili pepper to taste.
This re-heats really well.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
She is correct that it reheats well. She'll make as large a batch for the two of us as for the entire third shift at work. I've found that if I sprinkle a little water on it and put it in the nukerwave for a couple three minutes in a closed container it steams up good as new.
Posted by triticale at January 27, 2006 09:23 PM | TrackBack