You guys, it’s no secret by now that I love Mexican food. Love it. I love it. There are not enough O’s in the word LOOOOOOOOVE to emphasize my love for Mexican food.

And as I have begun to get better at cooking (or attempt to) I am working on perfecting my favorite dishes.

Arroz Con Pollo is my favorite dish at any (sit down – i.e. not Chipotle) Mexican Restaurant. So, over the years, I’ve worked on perfecting my own, signature Arroz Con Pollo. [That’s Chicken and Rice for those of you who don’t speak Spanish :)]. It’s not like the restaurant’s… but that’s okay. It’s like, DELICIOUS.

So, anywho. Cinco de Mayo was last Saturday and husband was out of town so we had a belated Cinco de Mayo meal on Monday – and, of course, I made signature Arroz Con Pollo.

Well, here’s the recipe. Now, I will warn you – that when it comes to the spices – or the “tastiers” as I like to call them, I do not measure. There is no science to it, but I will tell you what I use and what I use more vs. less of. The other stuff or the “mandatories” as I like to call them, are pretty set in stone as far as proportions.

Ingredients:

Mandatories:

• 1 Cup uncooked white rice
• 1 Pound ground chicken or ground turkey (I honestly use whatever is on sale)
• 1 Cup chicken broth
• 1 Cup water
• 1 Can Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies
• 1 Can Black Beans (just drained, you don’t have to rinse if you don’t want to)
• Salsa
• 1 Jalapeno (if you like it spicy – if you don’t like it too spicy, you can use half a jalapeno)
• 1 Shallot
• 1 clove Garlic

Tastiers:

• Chili Powder
• Cumin
• Smoked Chipotle Chili Powder
• Garlic Powder
• Salt
• Pepper
• Paprika
• Cayenne Pepper
• Red Pepper Flakes

Garnish / To Eat With:

• Shredded Cheese
• Tortillas or Tortilla Chips (or both!)
• Hot Sauce (my favorite is Tapatio)

Directions:

In a pot, cook the rice first. This is clearly the longest part of the process. Now, I cook 1 cup of uncooked white rice with 1 cup of chicken broth AND 1 cup of water. This gives the blandish rice more flavor – and it makes the rice not so tough. Once the rice is boiling, reduce your heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes (depending on the kind of rice your using and all the liquids are absorbed).

While your rice is cooking, finely dice and chop your shallot, jalapeno, and garlic. With a little bit of olive oil in a skillet or pan, toss in your diced shallot, jalapeno, and garlic mixture and simmer.

Once the room starts smelling DELICIOUS, toss in your ground turkey or chicken.

Continue to check on your rice. Don’t forget about your rice friends.

Now, here’s where the science of seasoning your turkey doesn’t necessarily exist. I use all those seasonings I mention in the “tastiers” category. It’s honestly TOTALLY dependent upon what level of spice you like / prefer. For me? If your nose isn’t running or you’re not crying, then it’s not spicy enough. Obviously this is an exaggeration, but needless to say, I like it spicy.

Here’s what I use MORE of vs what I use LESS of – some spices are much more pungent / strong than others – I am no expert – this is just what I have learned after YEARS of making this dish (and other dishes similar to it where I use these spices):

MORE OF:

• Salt
• Pepper
• Chili Powder
• Red Pepper Flakes

LESS OF:

• Cayenne Pepper
• Cumin
• Garlic Powder (I use less garlic powder when I use cloves of garlic in the dish – I like to use the garlic powder to season the meat directly whereas the cloves of garlic help give the whole dish a good garlic flavor)
• Paprika

DASH OF:

• Smoked Chipotle Chili Powder
• I have recently discovered this spice in my dishes and I LOVE IT. However, it is SUPER strong, so I use it a dash at a time. It’s a really strong flavor, so you don’t want to overdo it. You can easily add more, you can’t take it away.

Okay, so once you’ve played around with the level of seasoning you like on your ground chicken / turkey, jalapeno, shallot combo, you put in your can of diced tomatoes and green chilis along with your drained can of black beans.

Get all the meat and seasoning and tomato and green chili and black bean mixture mixed well. Make sure your meat is cooking all the way through. Simmer on a medium heat.

Once your rice is done, toss it in the skillet / pan.

Get it mixed well and good – add more seasonings if you do a taste test and you think it needs more of something. I usually, at this point, add more chili powder, salt, and pepper. Those are my “base” seasonings for this meal.

You can also, at this time, toss in some of your favorite salsa and shredded cheese.

Get the dish totally mixed and make sure your meat is cooked all the way through.

If, after a taste test, it’s tasting good to you – you’re good to go.

For Serving:

Now, I love to add lots of my favorite Tapatio hot sauce and shredded cheese to my individual dish. And I love to make tacos with tortillas. And I love to dip tortilla chips into the dish like nachos.

This is all up to you and your tastes. But the Arroz Con Pollo mixture is PERFECT with tortillas, tortilla chips, cheese, salsa and a cold beverage.

Yeah, my favorite. In fact, I love it so much, we ate it for dinner again on Tuesday. This dish makes BALLER leftovers. Yeah, I said BALLER.

Anywho. What do you think? Do you have a signature dish? Do you love Mexican food as much as I do?

xoxo, all for now.