Arroz Con Pollo

Back in high school, I originally planned on taking all four years of spanish and minoring in it in college and going out into "the real world" with a valuable skill. That plan ended my sophomore year with Mrs. Baker. Don't get me wrong, she was a wonderfully nice lady and a good teacher, but she had my older sister a year before me so her expectations were set way too high.

Every time I did bad on a quiz, she would hand it back with a sad little, "Pobre Dana," even though she knew my name was Tyler. If I did good it was always "Dana" who got the felicitas (I think that's the right word for congrats). She also had a nice little southern accent and let me tell you, spanish is hard enough to learn without throwing in the southern accent. I'd attempt to show you how she spoke her southern spanish but "Como say yahma" doesn't come out quite the same over the internet as it would in real life.

That ended my dreams of being a spanish minor. I dropped it the next year. Sometimes I wish I had kept up with it, especially since I now live in southern California.

Anyways, the point of that little story is that I can proudly translate my post title as "Chicken with Rice," or maybe "Rice with Chicken." I can't remember how the order of words go but I do remember the 3 weeks we spent in Spanish 2 learning everything grocery related and spanish hitting words on the board with a fly swatter when she called them out in English. What- your teacher didn't allow you to aggressively push someone out of the way just so you could hit "la leche" when she yelled out milk? You missed out. Big time.

Arroz Con Pollo

Source: Mrs. D Loves to Eat

2 lbs chicken pieces

2 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 red pepper, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1 chicken bouillon cube

2 tbsp tomato paste

1/2 tsp dry thyme

1 bay leaf

2 cups long grain rice

4 cups water

Brown chicken pieces in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Add vegetables and garlic and continue to saute until translucent. Add rice, thyme, and bay leaf; stir for about a minute. Add water, bouillon, and tomato paste. Stir well and bring to a boil. Boil 5 minutes. Cover and reduce heat to low, cooking another 10 minutes. Do not lift the lid (It makes the rice gummy). Remove from heat and let rest for 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!