Dinner 3: Mexican Chicken and Rice Pot with Almond Milk Smoothie

**Please see DISCLAIMERS on the post for Dinner #1.

For Stacy, who had lots of good stuff available, but who specifically had the following Foods To Use Up: almond milk and pre-seasoned chicken fajita strips.  That she did not want to use in fajitas.  Oh, and she doesn't like soup.  She was clearly out to get me.  But the ingredients she had seemed to lead to the following simple meal, which should not be too foreign for a typically meat and potatoes kind of family. 

MAIN DISH: Mexican Chicken and Rice Pot

Ingredients:

--rice, any kind, already cooked, enough to feed your family tonight with a little left over
--at least ½ a large onion (white, yellow or red), chopped (I would use a whole onion—is that too spicy?)
--no garlic because DJ’s not a fan (but anyone else reading this, I would put in about 3 large cloves ; )
--pre-seasoned chicken fajita strips, chopped
--2 cans diced tomatoes
--1 can tomato sauce
--1 small can diced green chilis (optional)
--1 can kidney beans and one can black beans (if you are not a fan of beans, at least use the one can of black. Trust me.), rinsed and drained.
--frozen corn (roasted, if possible)
--ground cumin, oregano, black pepper

In a big pot, sauté the chopped onion (and optional pressed garlic) in olive oil on med. high heat, for about 5 minutes, until slightly soft and translucent. Add chicken strips and sauté for several more minutes, adding about a tablespoon of water if necessary to keep from sticking.

Add cans of tomatoes and tomato sauce and stir.* (Also stir in the chopped green chilis, if you care to use them.) If it looks like you will have proportionally too much tomato for the amount of chicken, then only use one can of the diced tomatoes. But if you are not sure, you can always toss in the second can just to be safe—always better to have a saucy rice dish than a dry one! *I always swish a little water into my tomato sauce jars/cans and dump it in the pot too—better to “rinse” out the last bits of food into my pot than down the drain.

Stir in beans. Add dried cumin and oregano and black pepper, to taste (about 2 tsp. cumin, 1 ½ tsp oregano, healthy peppering).

Cover and bring contents of pot to simmer (might need to bring up temperature under the pot for a minute to help). When bubbly, add what looks like a good amount of frozen corn. Stir, and then cover again and simmer until the corn seems done.

At this point you can choose to either add your cooked rice to the pot and mix it all together and heat until warmed through (ideal when you are using leftover rice cold from the fridge) or bring your pot to the table and serve it over freshly cooked rice. Stacy, I think your family would like the first option—it’s a little more homey in my opinion and more authentic to the Blessed Table experience ; ).

Serve into bowls and top with shredded cheese (cheddar, jack, Colby—or any “Mexican” mix will be fine)


My family would probably eat this with corn tortilla chips (blue corn! Yum!) and no side dish. But if you want a side, I would recommend a salad with ranch dressing, and if you want a veggie on the side, I would choose steamed fresh broccoli or carrots.
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ON THE SIDE: Almond Milk Smoothie


(Hope you have a good blender!)

Into your blender, put your frozen berries and banana chunks, in that order. (optional: add ice or ice cream next if you want.) Pour almond milk on top of fruit. (optional: can also add honey if you like.)

Blend and serve!

 
Yes, Stacy, please do tell me if you make this dinner (or a part of it).  And if you blog about it, I assume you will be nice--but you can also be honest. : )  Thanks for playing!  Oh, and while you listed all the ways you cook, you did not mention sauté.  Ack, that's all I know how to do--sauté and soup!  I hope you didn't consider sauteing the same as frying. Please forgive me if you meant you don't cook on the stovetop and if you don't have a good blender.  I guess then I'll owe you dinner. ; )