Southwest Chicken and Rice

I think that we are going to attempt to see American Sniper tonight. I have totally mixed feelings about wanting to see this movie and I’m going to try my best to not have a major freak out in the middle of the theater tonight. I don’t do public displays of emotions and well considering I have a rough time getting through the previews on TV without changing the channel and feeling like my chest is going to explode…yeah I don’t know how I’m gonna do with all of that.

I’ve always cared about our military but I didn’t have this emotional issue with it until I married my husband. Being a military wife totally changed my view on EVERYTHING military related and even though he’s been out of the military for a while I still get that sinking feeling in my chest and my heart starts to race when something military related is going on.

I saw the preview for American Sniper, you know the part when his wife is talking on the phone with him and BOOM, things go crazy for him…yeah… I about lost it on just that preview. Perhaps I’ll have a drink or two before we go. I’ll probably need it. I do have a massage appointment before we go out tonight, maybe that will help ease my panic tension as well. haha — Oh dear….

Sorry to be so spastic and dramatic.  I totally started this blog post off on the right foot, didn’t I. 😉

Let’s just move onto the rice and forget that I had a mini melt down…mm k.. thanks. 😉

So do you see that beautiful red chili powder right there? Isn’t is gorgeous. I never thought a chili powder could be “beautiful” but it totally is. BigBear’s Uncle, Chris and his wife Carol, brought it to me from New Mexico! They use to drive a transfer truck all over the US (until they came home to take care of BigBear’s Grandmother) and when they were in New Mexico visiting Carol’s family they picked up two bags of chili pepper for me!

That seems to be what happens when you have family that knows that you love to cook; you get food and cooking presents! haha. Perfect! Thanks y’all!!

While I don’t cook that many spicy foods (although I wish I could), I do tend to sneak in bits of chili powder and hot sauce into our food! What can I say…I use to love hot foods. I used Texas Pete as my “ketchup” when I was in high school. haha

Don’t worry though! This Southwest Chicken and Rice isn’t hot. It’s not even spicy. But it could be. If you want more of a kick, just add more chili powder OR use a stronger chili powder. The chili powder I used was a mild one.

Oh and let me talk about the rice for a second. I love saffron rice. I could literally just it plain, so that’s why I chose saffron right for this dish. If you’re not into saffron rice, you could totally change it out for brown or white rice but you may want to add a few more spices to the dish.

White rice in incredibly bland in my opinion haha so I wasn’t interested in using it here. So… yeah…nevermind. Maybe you shouldn’t use white or brown rice. 😉 Just go ahead and give the saffron rice a try. I’m pretty sure that you’re gonna like it!

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Southwest Chicken and Rice
 By: Angie Barrett – BigBearsWife.com

1/21/15

Makes 4-6  servings                                              (Click to Print)

Ingredients 

2 boneless skinless chicken breast

2 tablespoons red chili powder + an additional tablespoon or two

1 can black beans, drained and lightly rinsed

1 can diced tomatoes, drained

1 can yellow corn, drained

10 oz yellow saffron rice (I use Mahatma Yellow Saffron Rice)

3.5 cups water

Directions 

Fill a large pot with water (enough to cover the two chicken breast). Add 2 tablespoons red chili powder and stir. Bring to a boil and add the chicken. Cook the chicken for about 30 minutes or until done.

While the chicken is cooking, fill a sauce pan with 3.5 cups of water. Turn the heat to medium high heat and after the water has come to a boil, stir in the saffron rice. Cover and reduce heat to low. Let the rice cook for about 20 minutes.

While the rice and chicken cooks, drain all of the vegetables and beans and add them to a large bowl.

When the chicken has finished cooking, let it cook for just a few minutes and then shred it. Sprinkle in about a tablespoon of red chili powder, mix well. Add it to the bowl of vegetables and beans.

When the rice has finished cooking, fluff it with a fork and mix it into the bowl of chicken, vegetables and beans. Mix well and serve hot.