Arroz Con Pollo - Chicken and Rice

This is a favorite in Costa Rica especially for birthday parties or get together. It is great because it is easy and cheep and you can add more rice to stretch it (Just don´t add to much without increasing some of the other ingredients or or won´t even be able to see the chicken and veggies!) So here is the recipe. You may have to play around with the ingredients and adjust to your taste. I am used to making this in quantities so it was a little hard to cut it down and even more so since I never measure anything for this dish.

Chicken with Rice

1 chicken breast (bone is is best) depending on how much chicken you like you can use only 1/2 of the breast, I usually use a whole breast for 6 - 8 cups of rice to make it cheaper for company.
3 cups of rice
3/4 cup of veggies (maybe) *(see note)
1 chopped onion
Chopped bell pepper
1 Celery stalk chopped
3 cloves of garlic
Paprika
Tomato or 14 cup tomato sauce
Salsa lizano or soy sauce or Bragg amino's**
Chicken seasoning or veggie seasoning
Salt, pepper

Boil chicken like you normally would in 4 cups of water. I like to add a little salt, pepper, garlic cloves, and onion to give it flavor. You can also add celery leaves. Take chicken out, cool, debone. Save broth. Measure broth and add water if needed till you have 4 cups. In a big pot (heavy bottom is better but what ever will do) saute onion, bell pepper, garlic and celery for a few min. Add any raw or frozen veggies, rice and chicken broth. Add a little salt and cook rice for about 20 minutes as normal. (Note: To make it super easy you can add the chicken and spices at this time with the tomato or tomato sauce. Everything will cook together.) Or you can heat the chicken with the tomato or tomato sauce, can veggies or already cooked leftover veggies (if using) and spices then when the rices is done you will stir it all together. When done and before serving fluff and mix well.

Costa ricans love this with potato chips and ketchup. We usually eat it with a salad and maybe bread or crackers.


*I use finally chopped carrots and green beans but if you don't have those you can use a can of mixed veggies, frozen mixed veggies, succotash, or what ever you have on hand. Have leftover corn add it. Have frozen peas and a raw carrot? Add those.

**These are flavors only add one. Pick and add a little and try it. I am sure you could also make this like a more Mexican dish using some cumin and chili powder and maybe salsa instead of the tomato or tomato sauce. I have never tried it this way but sounds good.

*** If you have some left over cooked beans like black you could probably drain them and them as well. Great idea for vegetarians is to cook the rice and all but leave the chicken on the side to mix in when done. That way you can use a portion of rice for each. Beans would make this a complete protein.

RICE TIP: When rice is done let sit a few minutes then fluff with a fork this will help it not to be so wet and sticky. Instead it will be more fluffy. Experiment with different measures of water. Sticker rice = more water, drier rice = less water. Here they usually do 1 cup of water per cup of rice. When I do it will do like 3 cups of rice but 4 cups of water, one more cup of water than rice.