Arroz con Pollo (Chicken with Yellow Rice)

Growing up in a Hispanic family I ate a lot of Hispanic food! My mom is a first generation American but her parents were Cuban; my dad is from Nicaragua, so I must say I have the best of both culinary worlds. The foods from both of these countries are delicious. Throughout my childhood, I grew up next door to my grandmother (maternal) and she cooked dinner everyday, thus my mom cooked dinner everyday too. I suppose you can say I learned it from these two ladies that dinner at the table every night is a must. My grandmother, to me, like all grandmothers, was an amazing cook. She thought her cooking was horrible which I never understood. As a kid, I would watch her prep for dinner and dump everything into a pressure cooker (an appliance I finally bought to try). The rest of the afternoon I would hear the whisper of the pressure cooker in the kitchen as it would also fill her house of the delicious dinner that was a few hours away. One meal she made that I never seemed to like was Arroz con Pollo. I have never been a fan of yellow rice and to this day I never understood why I never enjoyed this dish. This weekend I decided to make this dish myself to see if maybe with age (ha!) I would change my mind. I certainly did! It was moist and yummy. I do think my grandma would have been happy with the way it turned out. You will see in the recipe I added tumeric, do not despair it is just for coloring, it has no taste. The mayonnaise is my twist and it makes the rice moist; if you prefer a drier rice omit the mayo. Enjoy!

Recipe:
3-4 chicken breasts, cubed into 1 inch pieces
olive oil
1 green bell pepper, chopped (or any color you have on hand)
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup rice
1 (14.5 oz) can chicken broth
1/2 cup beer
1/8 teaspoon saffron
1 (14.5 oz) stewed tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon tumeric
1-2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1. In a pan over medium-high heat, add oil, brown and cook the chicken pieces. Set aside.

2. In the same pan, add the pepper, onion and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir together for about 1-2 minutes.

3. Stir in broth, beer, tomatoes, saffron, salt, pepper and paprika. Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes.

4. After the rice has simmered, add the turmeric for extra color. Put the chicken and its juices back into the pan with the rice and stir to combine. You can now also add the mayonnaise to your liking.

5. Serve with Sweet Fried Plantains and an avocado salad. Enjoy!