This is the recipe for the dinner I made last night when I had no idea of what to cook.
The original recipe is made with rice leftovers, stewed bean leftovers, and any meat of preference all refried together with olive oil. But I didn't had cooked rice so I made it this way. It is similar to an Arroz con Pollo but you do not have to cook the chicken with the rice. Chicken is cooked already.
Chop some onion, pepper and garlic. Use the amount you want according to you preference. I love to find it in my food so I cut it in pieces but you can chop it very small. Re fry in olive oil until translucent.
Poor like 1/4th cup of tomato sauce. (this recipe is like for 4 to 5 people. My kids eat small amounts and the only adults are me and hubby. But I always cook some more because you don't know if somebody comes or if any of us want to repeat You can use more tomato sauce or tomato paste or chopped tomatoes.) I use saffron or anatto for a pretty color. You can even use paprika.
Then add the chicken shredded with hands. Refry it a little and add 3 cups of water. When water boils add 2 cups of rice. I use for many recipes long parboiled rice. Cooks beautiful. I like Thai Jasmine rice but it is for oriental recipes better. Always cook rice according to instructions. I like to use less water so it cooks loose. For parboiled rice it is suppose to be used 2 cups of water for 1 cup of rice. I use 1 cup less for my 2 cups of rice. When rice starts boiling cover and cook on medium low until all water is absorbed.
When water is completely absorbed (approximately 20 minutes) move with fork, cover again and turn heat off. Leave it 10 to 15 minutes more. Then fluff with fork.
You can side this rice with stewed beans. Red kidney and pink are great. Black beans are delicious too. I'm counting carbs but Puertorrican food is heavy in carbs. I prefer mine with a good amount of fresh salad and serve a small amount of rice. I will surely post more stuff like how to make your stewed beans of your own so you don't use from cans and much more. :D
