Monday
Mondays with Michelle: Arroz Con Pollo
Here's another "In case you missed" it from my Foodie Blog. This one is about preparing a healthier version of one of my favorite Puerto Rican dishes Arroz Con Pollo... enjoy!
Tonight's plan for dinner is one of my childhood favs, Arroz con Pollo (chicken with rice). I picked up some chicken legs the other day (since they were on sale at Kroger) with this dish in mind. I've experimented with this fav a ton, I've made it in the traditional one-pot fashion, I've tried half rice cooker/half stove top, I've added pigeon peas (yum), I've tried a more Spanish style and cooked it in the oven... like I said, I've experimented a ton and it has all be delicious.With my recent weight loss efforts I decided that I would change this recipe a little bit to make it as figure friendly as possible. In order to do that, I decided to use brown rice instead of white rice. Keep in mind this changes the dish quite a bit because the texture of brown rice is different than white rice, but that doesn't mean that it can't be just a flavorful.
The recipe is listed below, but before you get to that here is a step by step via some photo's I took during the process, check it out...
Season the chicken with Michelle's Essence |
Allow the oil to reach smoke point before you add your chicken to ensure a nice sear. |
Add these packets of goodness into the pot along with the rice, stock and chicken and allow to simmer. |
Add in the gandules after simmering for about 15 minutes. Then put the lid back on and allow to simmer until done. |
The liquid should be completely absorbed and the rice should be tender once it is done. |
Ingredients:
4-5 chicken legs
1 cup brown rice
2 1/2 cups Chicken stock
1 green pepper diced
1 red pepper diced
1 small onion diced
1 can Goya gandules (pigeon peas)
2 packets Sazon Goya
1 Tbs Vegetable oil
Handful of fresh cilantro chopped
Michelle's Essence to taste
White Spice to taste
- Season chicken legs with Michelle’s Essence and set aside.
- Heat vegetable oil in a good sized pot over medium high heat.
- Brown chicken legs on all sides (about 2 minutes on each side) and then remove from heat.
- Add diced peppers and onions to the same pot that you just browned the chicken in, allow to cook for just a minute or until fragrant.
- Add the chicken back to the pot with the diced vegetables and reduce the heat to medium low heat.
- Add rice, chicken stock and both packets of Sazon to the pot. Make sure rice is completely covered in liquid. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add the gandules to the pot; be sure to drain the liquid out first. Do not over mix, just fold in without disturbing the rice too much.
- Continue to simmer until rice is completely cooked, about another 15 minutes.
- Taste and add white spice as needed.
- Enjoy!
Healthy eating is all about portion control, but I think the addition of brown rice adds to the nutritional content of this dish. Add a nice big green salad to this meal to round it out and you'll be set. I hope you enjoy it!
Thanks for reading!
