Santa Fe Chicken Rice
This dinner is the little-black-Patagonia-sport-dress of meals. Its quick, easy and depending upon how you garnish it, is suitable for camping, school nights or a casual dinner party. I think of this recipe as “dry soup.” The liquid can be any variation of broth, water and/or sauce. The vegetables can be whatever you have on hand as long as they can stand up to the cooking time.
Tools: 4 qt. saucepan with tight-fitting lid.
Yield:
Serves 4 Approx.
Prep time: Approx. 10
minutes. Cooking time 35-60 minutes depending upon the variety
of rice you use.
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless*
1 cup Rice – white, brown or a mix. White rice takes
less cooking time, so adjust timing.
Olive oil 1-4 tablespoons (your preference)
1 cup salsa or chili or enchilada sauce
1 cup broth or water
1 diced onion
1 small can diced green chilies
2-4 cloves minced garlic (your taste)
Garnish: (all are
optional)
Lime wedges (squeeze over each serving before eaten)
Chopped fresh Cilantro
Grated cheese (Mexican cheeses or a cheddar or jack)
Hot Sauce or additional Salsa
Tortilla chips or Fritos
More diced green chilies
Chopped fresh tomato
Directions:
- Pour oil into the pan and brown chicken breasts over medium high heat for about 5 minutes each side.
- Add the rice during the final 5 minutes of browning. Stir occasionally to cook the rice.
- Add the vegetables and liquid ingredients. Bring mixture to a boil.
- When it boils, put on the lid and reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 35 - 45 minutes, 60 minutes if you’re using brown rice. Cooking times vary depending upon the rice variety you choose.
When the recipe is done the rice will be cooked and not too
hard or too wet. This recipe is pretty fail safe. I’ve
mis-judged the moisture of the ingredients and had to cook the
mixture as long as 90 minutes. Or even had to add a
little hot water to the pan if the rice was still hard
when the liquid was evaporated.
*You want the chicken to be completely cooked, so cut each
breast into 3 or 4 chunks if the cooking time will be only 30
minutes or so. Using white rice can reduce the time to as
little as 30 minutes. Refer to the rice package directions and
add 5 to 10 minutes.
Delicious served with: Heated tortillas. As a camping treat
we’ll eat this with Super Scoop Fritos.
