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Friday Lunch Recipes

(Mexican Style Chicken & Rice ) On the first Friday of every month, our very own Chandra T volunteers her time to prepare meals for the Freeport Community Services "First Friday Free Lunch Program."  Her meals are so delicious, that we often receive requests for her recipes.  Please enjoy!

Friday Lunch Recipes

On the first Friday of every month, our very own Chandra T volunteers her time to prepare meals for the Freeport Community Services “First Friday Free Lunch Program.”  Her meals are so delicious, that we often receive requests for her recipes.  Please enjoy!

Mexican Style Chicken & Rice

This recipe is a pantry clean-out, use-what-you-have-on-hand, busy weeknight work horse. Feel free to add more or substitute ingredients for what is readily available to you.  (Serves 4)

First Friday Lunch Volunteering - Mexican Rice

Ingredients:

  • 1-2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into bite sized pieces (breasts, tenderloins, whatever you have on hand is fine (see what I did there 😊). You could even use pork, sausage, ground beef, tofu…)
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 3 cloves of garlic, grated or crushed
  • 1-2 bell peppers, depending on size, diced (any color will do)
  • 1 can whole kernel corn, drained
  • 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (kidney beans, cannellini beans, whatever beans, just not baked beans because that would be weird.)
  • 1 can diced tomatoes, drained, juice reserved (in case you need to add a little moisture)
  • 2 cups rice, prepared according to package
  • 1-2 TBS chili powder (measure according to your taste)
  • 1-2 TBS cumin (measure according to your taste)
  • 4 TBS cooking oil (vegetable, olive, canola)
  • Salt & Pepper to taste

Method:

Place your diced chicken in a bowl and coat with the chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. You may want to add a little oil to help disburse your seasonings evenly. Heat your oil in a large pan over medium high heat. While the oil is heating, prep your rice and get it on the stove according to package instructions. Once the oil in your pan is shimmering, add in your chicken (mind the splatter!). Sautee the chicken until golden brown and cooked through. Remove the chicken from your pan and set aside (save those juices!). Reduce the heat to medium and to the same pan, add in your peppers, onions, and garlic. Sautee until tender crisp, about 5-7 minutes. *Don’t forget about the rice! Remove rice from the heat and fluff with a fork.

Once your vegetables and rice are cooked, dump your chicken (including the cooking liquid! Don’t waste that flavor!) and rice into the pan with the veggies. Add in your beans, corn, and tomatoes, stir well to combine. Adjust your seasonings as needed and add in some of the reserved tomato juice if the dish seems dry. Serve with cornbread (Jiffy mix is the best in my opinion) or salad.

Notes:

  • You may need to use a larger vessel for mixing your ingredients together depending on your pan size and the number of people you are feeding.
  • To save time, you could use frozen diced peppers and onions.
  • Add cayenne or red pepper flakes if you like it spicy. Chilis in adobo would also be a nice, spicy/smokey addition.
  • I cooked the ingredients separately and then combined them, but you could easily make this a one pot meal.
  • Substituting chicken, vegetable, or beef broth for your rice cooking liquid will add more flavor to the dish.
  • Alternatively, you could dump all this into a greased casserole dish, top it with cheese and bake it in the oven at 400 for about 30 minutes for an added layer of yum!