Spicy Chicken and Rice Bowl

Leftovers come in handy if you pack your lunch for work.

And if there’s a microwave available at work it’s even better when packing leftovers.

If only lunch money was the same now as it was in grade school when I was a kid.

Money spent on lunches can really add up.  But so can the savings when bringing your own lunches to work.

This spicy chicken and rice bowl is great for taking to work because it can be made ahead of time and tastes delish warmed up.

It’s a great way to “repurpose” leftover rice.  So I guess this dish would be leftover leftovers.

It’s one of those lunches that when you warm it up at the office your co-workers walking by the break room will say “wow that smells good”.

The spices used in this recipe are from the Hispanic section of the grocery store. You may have seen these spices before, they’re in cellophane bags.

I love to browse at the variety of spices in this section and of course like that they generally cost less than the spices in the jars.

These packets of Hispanic spices and herbs store nicely in the Ball 4 ounce canning jars.

These jars are so cute too.

You can see in the picture of ingredients below that the name of the spice can be cut out from the packet and put in the jar or on top of the lid (I just use some plastic wrap over the name of the spice when I put it on the lid).

I hope you have a great week and thank you for stopping by.

Let’s check out the ingredients.

Boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked white rice, poblano pepper, red or white onion, garlic, tomato, cumin, Mexican oregano (or regular oregano), pasilla ancho chili powder, chipotle chili powder.  And for the toppings, shredded cheese and shredded lettuce.

Here’s how to make it:

For the Chicken:

Cut the chicken in small pieces and add it to a medium size bowl.

Cut the poblano pepper into about 2 inch size pieces….

….and add to the bowl.

Add the pasilla ancho chili powder,

and olive oil.  Mix together.

Then add the salt and mix together.

Heat a skillet on medium heat.

Add the chicken mixture to the pan and stir.

Continue stirring.  When the chicken is cooked (about 7 to 8 minutes) remove it from the skillet and put it into a bowl.  Set aside.

Keep the skillet on the stove (with the heat off) to cook the rice mixture.

For the Rice:

Cut the onion in half….then cut slices from one of the halves.

Chop the garlic.

Chop the tomatoes.

In the same skillet as the chicken was cooked in, add the olive oil,

and red onion.  Stir the onions and add in the garlic.  Continue stirring as they cook for about 5 minutes.

Then add the white rice,

tomatoes,

chipotle chili powder, cumin,

dried oregano, water, salt and stir together.

Then add the chicken mixture back in the skillet and stir together.  Cook for another 4 minutes or so until the chicken warms back up again.

Serve hot right out of the pan and top with shredded cheese and lettuce.

This tastes great with a side of guacamole too.

Enjoy!

To make the guacamole for this dish I just smashed an avocado in a bowl.  Then chopped some leftover onion, poblano pepper and tomato…added it to the avocado along with some salt and pepper.  Here’s a recipe for guacamole that has a few more ingredients….Easy Guacamole.

Here are some more recipes using leftover rice.

Grilled Shrimp with Brown Butter and Rice
One Skillet Salsa Verde Chicken with Corn
Shrimp and Fried Rice