One-Pot Southwest Chicken & Rice

Made this for dinner tonight – it was a winner!! I added black beans and frozen corn and another can of plain diced tomatoes. Can’t wait to have leftovers tomorrow :)

For those of us who can’t get Rotel… How is it different than salsa? That’s what it looks like to me.

Thanx Jillee. The photo tutorial is great. All this time when I read chicken tenders I thought you were talking about breaded chicken nuggets (Burger King calls them chicken tenders), but its the raw chicken. DUH. I had the same confusion with the Chicken Fried Rice recipe.

At my house one pot meals are taboo (DH grew up with meat, potato & vegetable) so I have to make them on the sly. DH likes to see at 3 different “piles” on his plate. For me this means cooking the rice separately–no biggie I make ahead & freeze. In place of the rice in the recipe, I will add dehydrated black beans (specialty restaurant beans that are dry but don’t need soaking & cook in 8-10 min.). Third “pile” would be corn relish that I canned last summer. If you are interested in the beans this is where I get mine from (I am not compensated for this) http://www.harmonyhousefoods.com

That is similar to how we made Mexican Chicken & Rice in the very far southern Tip of Texas in Brownesville. . But they tend to use whole regular rice & I’ll share how its made very simply.

You take about a tablespoon of olive oil and put it in a 10′”skillet.. let it get hot, then brown your chicken on both sides quickly and remove temporarily. If needed, add more oil and then add 1 cup of regular uncooked white (or brown) rice.. stir in the oil for about 5 minutes until your rice takes on a golden toasted hue. Then add 2.5 cups of water & 2 small chicken bouillon cubes (or 2.5 cups chicken broth.) If you’re using brown rice, add another 1/2 cup liquid.) Careful, it sputters for a few seconds.
Add 1-2 heaping tablespoons of your favorite salsa, (or chopped tomato, peppers & onion) 1 teaspoon of crushed cumin, 1 T garlic, 1 t onion. Add your chicken back in at this point. If you like, you can add squash slices or artichokes for some veggies.
Bring to a high boil, cover, then lower heat to low and let simmer for about 12-15 minutes.

Thats it! If you want to add cheese, as in your dish above has, add it now…

Where I come from, the Mexicans dont use loads & loads of tomatoes in the rice like in Spanish rice.. They do over in Louisiana though..

Hope this helped someone find a way to use regular white rice (or brown rice) to modify the recipe.

Made this for dinner tonight – it was a winner!! I added black beans and frozen corn and another can of plain diced tomatoes. Can’t wait to have leftovers tomorrow :)

For those of us who can’t get Rotel… How is it different than salsa? That’s what it looks like to me.

Thanx Jillee. The photo tutorial is great. All this time when I read chicken tenders I thought you were talking about breaded chicken nuggets (Burger King calls them chicken tenders), but its the raw chicken. DUH. I had the same confusion with the Chicken Fried Rice recipe.

At my house one pot meals are taboo (DH grew up with meat, potato & vegetable) so I have to make them on the sly. DH likes to see at 3 different “piles” on his plate. For me this means cooking the rice separately–no biggie I make ahead & freeze. In place of the rice in the recipe, I will add dehydrated black beans (specialty restaurant beans that are dry but don’t need soaking & cook in 8-10 min.). Third “pile” would be corn relish that I canned last summer. If you are interested in the beans this is where I get mine from (I am not compensated for this) http://www.harmonyhousefoods.com

That is similar to how we made Mexican Chicken & Rice in the very far southern Tip of Texas in Brownesville. . But they tend to use whole regular rice & I’ll share how its made very simply.

You take about a tablespoon of olive oil and put it in a 10′”skillet.. let it get hot, then brown your chicken on both sides quickly and remove temporarily. If needed, add more oil and then add 1 cup of regular uncooked white (or brown) rice.. stir in the oil for about 5 minutes until your rice takes on a golden toasted hue. Then add 2.5 cups of water & 2 small chicken bouillon cubes (or 2.5 cups chicken broth.) If you’re using brown rice, add another 1/2 cup liquid.) Careful, it sputters for a few seconds.
Add 1-2 heaping tablespoons of your favorite salsa, (or chopped tomato, peppers & onion) 1 teaspoon of crushed cumin, 1 T garlic, 1 t onion. Add your chicken back in at this point. If you like, you can add squash slices or artichokes for some veggies.
Bring to a high boil, cover, then lower heat to low and let simmer for about 12-15 minutes.

Thats it! If you want to add cheese, as in your dish above has, add it now…

Where I come from, the Mexicans dont use loads & loads of tomatoes in the rice like in Spanish rice.. They do over in Louisiana though..

Hope this helped someone find a way to use regular white rice (or brown rice) to modify the recipe.