One Pot Spanish Chicken & Rice: A Tasty Nutritionally Balanced Meal

I’m a big fan of one pot meals and this is a super tasty one that the whole family can enjoy. I also like to be able to get more than one meal out of each cooking session and this dinner lends itself to that as it tastes even better the following day! As a working Mum with two small kiddies, I often double cook dinners and either eat the leftovers the following day or freeze for another day. It free’s me up to spend quality time with my kids in the evenings and on the days that I don’t have to cook I’m much more likely to suggest doing fun activities with them and/or I have enough energy left over to get out and do some exercise myself – wahoo! It’s the simple things in life but honestly knowing that I have a dinner already cooked for the evening ahead actually puts me in a good mood! Clearly I need to get out more 🙂

This one pot Spanish Chicken & Rice dish is super tasty and simple to make. It’s a nutritionally balanced Mediterranean style meal with a nice balance of protein, carbs and colorful vegetables which add fibre and vitamins to the dish. Sometimes I’ll do a nice green leaf salad to have on the side to bump up my veg portion and make sure I achieve my 5 a day! This recipe is a bit of a mixed adaptation of a recipe my Spanish Mum used to make when I was growing up and a recipe that was shared with me from Operation Transformation. You can tweak it lots of different ways but this is how I like it. The olive oil and garlic boost heart health and the lemon juice brings out the flavours as well as enhancing the digestion process.

5 A Day The Rainbow Way! Brightly Colored Vegetables = A Wide Range Of Vitamins & Antioxidants

One Pot Spanish Chicken & Rice (serves 4-6)

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • 3 chicken fillets, diced
  • 2 tsp. plain flour
  • 2 tsp. paprika
  • 1 tsp. smoked paprika or mild chili powder
  • 1 large onion
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 200g Green Beans
  • 1 yellow pepper, cut into small chunks
  • 1 red pepper, cut into small chunks
  • 2 carrots, peeled and sliced into half moons
  • 2 tbsp. tomato purée
  • 1 cup long grain rice (rinse the starch off in a sieve beforehand)
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • Juice of half a lemon

Optional: Sometimes I mix through a small 210g tin of chick peas at the very end for extra protein & fibre, it works well.

Method

  • In a large bowl mix the flour and paprika
  • Add the chicken pieces and mix so that the chicken is coated in the flour and spices
  • Add 1 tbsp. olive oil to a large pot over medium heat.
  • Add the chicken and cook for a few minutes until opaque, remove from pot and set aside
  • Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and saute the onion, peppers & carrot for a few minutes followed by the garlic for another minute or so.
  • Add in the tomato puree then stir in the uncooked rice so it absorbs the flavours followed by the stock.
  • Cover and simmer for approx. 10 minutes, stirring regularly to avoid the rice from sticking to the bottom of pot.
  • Add back in the chicken along with the green beans, cover and simmer for another 10 minutes until the rice and chicken are fully cooked and tender.
  • Squeeze lemon juice over and garnish with fresh flat leaf parsley if desired, serve piping hot.

Note: Once cooled, this will keep in the fridge for 1-2 days.

Let me know if you try it out, feel free to copy page link above to share this recipe with your friends and family!

P.S. Read about my Online Nutrition & Weight Management Programs here

Elsa xx

 

2018-09-27T10:07:06+00:00