Hi friends? How are you? I’m feeling very excited to share this week’s post with you for a natural take on the peruvian favorite known as cilantro chicken and rice or “arroz con pollo”. What I love about this recipe is the natural ingredients it uses. I made this recipe for my most loyal food critic: my dad. Peruvians are very close to family and I have special place in my heart for my father. He always shares the love with me, even when I undercook or overcook and today I’m sharing the love with you all. I hope you are kind and share the love too.

A little trivia for this dish is that chicken and rice dishes come from Spain and have many variations through Latin America. In Peru, it is traditionally flavored with cilantro, different spicy peppers and beer. As I mentioned earlier, this version considers only the basics. The only beer involved was a Cusqueña that I shared with my dad while we ate this chicken and rice.


On a more personal note, if you follow the blog you may have noted that I’ve hinted on being actively reinsert myself in the work force. I’m actively working on it, but I’m happy to share that after a few odd jobs I promise to invest… in a tripod! There are many amazing foodie videos all over the web and hope to improve our weekly videos soon. Currently I use my Nexus LG cellphone (which rocks) and a selfie stick, so you can imagine how that goes… I hope to spread happier news soon.

Ingredients
4-6 chicken pieces
1/2 cup of oil
1 finely chopped onion
2 finely chopped garlic heads
2 ½ to 3 cups full of cilantro leaves ground in ½ cup of water
4 cups of rice
1/2 cup of peas
1/2 cup of chopped corn
1/2 cup of diced carrots
1 bell pepper cut into strips
4 ½ cups of boiled water

Preparation
Salt and pepper the chicken.

Heat a large oiled pot.

Fry the chicken in the pot.

Remove the chicken and set it aside.

Brown the garlic, onion and cilantro in the same pot.

Return the chicken and finish cooking in the pot.

Remove the chicken and keep it warm.

Stir in the rice into the pot.

Add the carrots, peas, corn and pepper.

Add the water, and add salt and pepper for the rice and vegetables.

Cook until the rice is cooked.

Serve the chicken with the rice. It goes very well with an onion sauce with lemon, salt and oil.

Serves 4 to 6 people.