Vera’s Rizoto
How this dish started? If you really want to know, you can read about it here, so this post wouldn’t be too long.
Quick leftover transformation – or call it dinner in 15 minutes. When you need to do something tasty, yet healthy fast – this is a super easy recipe that you may enjoy. As a traditional Czech dish called Rizoto (not to be confused with Italian Risotto), it could be called a variation to Spanish Paella, Louisiana’s Jambalaya, or perhaps Chinese fried rice. Ever country have their own versions of dishes made with rice. This is mine:
Serving: 4 people
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of cooked rice
- ¼ red pepper, diced
- ¼ green pepper, diced
- 2 carrots diced
- ¼ white onion, minced
- 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
- 3 stalks of celery, diced
- 1 table spoon of organic Better than bouillon chicken base (reduced sodium) – my shortcut, you can use a cup of chicken broth, if you have it
- Chicken Breast Strips or 1 large chicken breast or 4 boneless chicken thighs, chopped into small pieces
- 1 cup water (only if using chicken base instead of broth)
- Salt and pepper
- 1 cup frozen peas
- Red crushed pepper for heat (totally optional)
- Saffron (few strings)
- 1 table spoon of organic butter
- Olive or coconut oil
How to:
Heat oil in larger heavy bottom pot. Add minced onion and sauté until translucent not brown, about 1 minute on medium heat. Add diced garlic and keep stirring – because garlic gets easily burned.
Peel and chop your carrots and celery (I happen to like it mined into really small cubes, it also speeds up the cooking time). When prepared, add to the onions. Stir and let cook on medium low heat. Season with salt and pepper.
In the meantime, clean and chop your peppers (they take shorter time to cook), and when ready, add to the pot. Keep steering so everything combines well. When the vegetables start to soften, add tablespoon of chicken base – or chicken stock. Mix well to combine and add water (if using chicken broth base). Add red crushed pepper if using, and saffron. Mix into the broth well.
Throw all the leftover rice into the pot and stir with vegetables. Let the rice cook with vegetables and chop your chicken – if using already grilled stripes, just cut into bite pieces and add them to the mix. If you have chicken breasts raw, cut into small pieces, and quickly sauté on frying pan, with little bit of olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper for few minutes, until cooked through.
When the meat is in, mix everything together and add more water /chicken stock, if too dry. Let the meat warm up in the rice (I love that the Southwestern-Style Grilled Chicken Breast Strips gave it another dimension with the spicy seasoning) and frozen peas. Cover and let cook little more on low heat. At the end, right before the serving, add tablespoon of butter. Do not skip this step, organic butter is good for you and this little bit makes huge difference in flavor! Let the butter melt in the rice, mix well and serve. You can sprinkle with fresh parsley or chives (I was too hungry to bother).,
Bon Apetite!
Oh, and for a wine pairing, I opened a bottle of Aveleda Vinho Verde, a very refreshing, mineral and crisp white wine from Portugal. It worked together perfectly. So much so, that I had to pour myself another glass ♥
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