Minnesota Prairie Roots

Arroz con pollo tastes much better than it looks.

Any time I can hand kitchen duties over to someone else, or eat food prepared by someone else, I’ll jump at the chance. I freely admit that “I hate to cook.”

So when my daughter Miranda, who has worked the past two summers in the Concordia Spanish Language Village kitchen, offered to prepare a meal for us, I quickly agreed.

This woman knows how to cook. And she didn’t learn it from me. Thank you, Concordia staff, for teaching my daughter how to cook.

She prepared arroz con pollo, a delicious Latin American dish of chicken and rice seasoned with fresh garlic, onions, red peppers and fresh cilantro.

Even my finicky son proclaimed the food tasty, although he did push the red peppers to the side of his plate.

For me, Miranda prepared a lettuce salad topped with a tomato picked from our backyard. She cut the tomato into the shape of a rose, a skill she learned from the head cook when the Mexican ambassador visited the language village. The ambassador was served a tomato rose-topped salad, just like me.

Miranda completed the meal with a mixture of fresh fruits, including mangoes. Now, I’ve never bought a mango, never eaten a mango. Actually, if someone placed a mango in front of me, I would ask, “What’s that?”

Yes, I have much to learn about food. But I’ve got my Spanish major, “I’ve lived in Argentina,” “I’ve cooked Latin American food for two summers,” daughter to teach me.

Arroz con pollo (rice with chicken)

Sautee 3 cloves minced garlic and half an onion, diced, in vegetable oil. Mix with 2 ½ cups instant, raw rice. Stir the rice mixture into 2 ½ cups chicken stock that has been brought to a boil. Turn off the heat and allow the rice to sit, covered, per package instructions.

In vegetable oil, sautee 1 ½ to 2 boneless chicken breasts (cut into small chunks) with half an onion, diced tomato and diced red pepper.

When the chicken is cooked, add the chicken mixture to the rice. Heat over low heat for several minutes, adding more chicken stock as needed.

Mix in fresh chopped cilantro and serve. Makes 6 servings.

Note: Miranda said this is not the “official” Concordia arroz con pollo recipe, but her adaptation of it.

© Copyright 2009 Audrey Kletscher Helbling