Thank you for your feedback on what you want to read right now, and welcome to day two of Coronavirus Quarantine Content. Some of you asked for healthy, family-friendly recipes using pantry staples, so today I’m sharing my go-to chicken and rice recipe that I shared on my Instagram stories Sunday evening.

This version can be made with many different substitutions (for example, I used cipollini onions and shishito peppers because that was all I had around and couldn’t stomach the store madness) and best of all, you can make the whole meal using one big pot. The quantity below fed my family of 5 for 2 nights (and my husband had seconds both evenings). Best of all, my three kids love this dinner and so does my husband, clearly, so it’s very family friendly.

Here is my own best One Pot Arroz con Pollo recipe:

6-8 pieces of chicken on the bone (the chicken will turn out more tender, but you can use boneless chicken breasts)

2 cups white long grain rice (or light brown rice)

3 1/2 cups chicken stock (I like Better Than Bouillon or homemade)

1/2 cup strained tomatoes or tomato puree

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp Adobo

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp tumeric

1 Yellow onion

3 Cloves of garlic

1 Serrano pepper (optional)

1 Green bell pepper

1 Red bell pepper

1 Large tomato

2 Fistfuls of cilantro

1/2 Cup frozen peas

Salt to taste

Green olives for garnish

Limes for garnish

Avocados for garnish

Scallions for garnish

Core and finely chop all three peppers and the tomato. If you’re adding the serano pepper, remove most of the white insides and the seeds unless you like it super spicy (I remove all seeds for my toddlers and baby). Finely chop the onion, garlic and one of the fistfuls of cilantro. You can also opt to toss them all in the food processor for a few seconds to save time.

Place the vegetable oil in a large lidded pan like this one on medium-low heat uncovered and add the finely chopped veggies, onions, garlic and cilantro. While those simmer, season your chicken with the Adobo first then the cumin and tumeric and a sprinkling of salt on both sides. Once the onions are starting to turn translucent, brown the meat on both sides in the pan on medium heat with the veggies for about 3 minutes on each side. This recipe turns out best with chicken on the bone with the skin removed, but you can also make it with chicken breasts to lighten things up. If making with breasts, I recommend cutting the breasts in half and pounding them with a meat tenderizer before seasoning and browning.

Once the chicken is browned on both sides, remove them from the pan and set them aside.

Add the 2 cups of rice to the pan and stir it around with the veggies and chicken spice remnants for about 4 minutes. Once the rice is looking pretty evenly coated, add the 3 1/2 cups of cold chicken stock and the 1/2 cup of strained tomatoes and bring just to a boil. Reduce to simmer and tuck the chicken into the rice and cover. Let simmer 20 minutes covered. Add the frozen peas when you have about 5 minutes left, then cover again. If you’re making this with brown rice, it will need an extra 20-25 minutes (about 40-45 minutes in total). Let stand with the heat turned off for 5 minutes.

Sprinkle the rest of the cilantro on top and serve in pasta bowls. I like to garnish mine with sliced green olives, avocado, lime, and cilantro. Salud!

xo

BB