Mexican Rice Bowls

This recipe is actually one you can have the kids help with since it's from the kids section of Rachael Ray's book, Classic 30 Minute Meals. Oddly, it's the only of her (6) books I have that's a hardcover. Not that that means anything but I just noticed that the other day. Anyway! I saw this recipe for Mexican Rice Bowls and it looked easy and yummy and I had most of the ingredients. My olives were pimento-free.

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 pound chicken tenders, cut into bite-size pieces
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups white rice
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon Goya brand Sazón seasoning blend
• 1/2 cup tomato salsa or taco sauce
• 1/4 cup drained olives with pimentos, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
• Blue or red corn tortilla chips and salsa for serving (optional)

Preparation

Heat a medium size pot over medium-heat; add EVOO and butter. When butter has melted into EVOO, add pieces of chicken tenders. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Sauté the chicken, stirring, until lightly browned.

Add the rice and cook another minute or two. Then add the chicken stock to the pot and the Sazón seasoning. Put a lid on the pot and raise to high heat to bring the stock to a quicker boil, 2-3 minutes. When the liquid boils, reduce heat to simmer and put the lid back on. Cook until the rice is tender but still a little chewy in the center, 13-15 minutes.

Take off the lid and stir in salsa or taco sauce, olives with pimentos and parsley. Turn off the heat and let stand five minutes.

Serve hot Mexican rice in bowls placed on dinner plates and garnish plates with chips and leftover salsa or taco sauce for dipping.

Result: Quite delicious! The olives were a bit salty for the rest of the meal so I would probably make this in the future w/o olives. I also kept the salsa on the side and added black beans (drained, rinsed with pepper, cumin, cilantro & coriander & a splash of lime added). I can't see any Mexican meal without black beans in my home! I also added garlic and shallots to the chicken & topped the whole thing (on a plate... lol) with homemade guacamole (garlic, onion, avocado, sea salt, lime, cilantro mashed together).