Pollo Borracho and Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice

Pollo borracho (Cuban style drunken chicken) is one of my favorite party dishes. It's easy to make a day ahead of time, and just re-heat on the stove or in the oven. And! It's great as leftovers days later. Oh, and it's pretty much impossible to mess up, so it turns out delicious every time.

Cilantro lime cauliflower rice has been making the rounds on food blogs and pinterest, so of course I decided to put my own spin on it and give you the recipe here. The flavors go perfectly with pollo borracho, and it's so easy and tasty that you won't even miss your white rice. If you change around the spices, you can serve it in place of white rice in any meal.
 

{browning the chicken}

{letting it simmer}

Pollo Borracho (Drunken Chicken, Cuban style)
Ingredients:
one 4- to 5-pound frying chicken, cut into serving pieces and skin removed (you can also buy pre-cut breasts or thighs, that's what I usually do)
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
 1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, thickly sliced
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup dry sherry
1/4 cup large green Spanish olives (with the pimientos), drained and roughly chopped
Directions:
1.) Wash the chicken pieces, pat dry with paper towels, and season with salt, pepper, cumin and oregano.
2.) In a dutch oven (or large oven-proof skillet big enough to hold the chicken pieces without crowding), heat the olive oil over medium heat until fragrant, and brown the chicken pieces well on all sides. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. Reduce the heat to low, add the garlic and onions, and cook, stirring, until tender, 6-8 minutes, adding more oil if necessary.
3.) Add the bay leaf, wines, and olives and stir to incorporate. Return the chicken to the pan, cover, and cook over low heat until tender, about 45-60 minutes. If you prefer, you can place the covered skillet in a 350 degree F oven for 45 minutes instead. Remove the bay leaf and serve with cauliflower rice.

Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice
Ingredients:
1/2 large head of cauliflower
1/2 yellow/white onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
zest of one large lime
juice from 1/2 a lime
2 tablespoons olive oil
a dash of cumin
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1.) Pulse the cauliflower in a food processor or grate it, so that it resembles grains of rice.
2.) Heat a large pan to medium heat and add olive oil, onion, and garlic. Cook until just translucent, then add riced cauliflower.
3.) Cover the pan and let steam for 6-7 minutes, or until cauliflower is softened and gently cooked through.
4.) Remove cover and cook off any excess liquid.
5.) Add in lime zest, cilantro, cumin, salt, and pepper. Mix well, then transfer to a serving dish. Squeeze fresh lime juice over the rice and serve.

{you can also shred the chicken & mix it in with the rice: delish!}

Homemade Pesto & Baked Pesto Chicken

{baked pesto chicken and kale}

For most of my life, I thought I didn't like pesto, but I think I was comparing store-bought to home made. And man, does it make a difference if you're eating it home made. Pesto is one of the quickest and tastiest sauces around and I like that it's so versatile. You can use it with baked chicken, zucchini noodles, starch free bread, on fish, etc. And you can change up the herbs and nuts depending on what you have available. I like to use walnuts, but almonds will work just fine. (P.S. I'll tell you about making kale another day.)

Pesto
makes about 1 1/2 cups
2 cups fresh basil or cilantro leaves (packed into a measuring cup)
3-4 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup walnuts or almonds
3/4 cup coarsely grated/shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 a lemon's worth of freshly squeezed lemon juice
salt and black pepper to taste

1. Wash basil/cilantro leaves if needed and dry. Put basil leaves and sliced garlic into food processor (or a blender if you don't have one) that's been fitted with the steel blade and process until basil and garlic is finely chopped, adding oil through the feed tube as you mix. You're going to have to take off the lid and scrape the sides with a rubber scraper periodically to make sure it all gets mixed.

{processing the basil & garlic}

2. Add walnuts, Parmesan cheese, and lemon juice to the chopped basil mixture and process 1-2 minutes more, until the pesto is mostly pureed and well mixed. Season to taste with salt and black pepper and pulse a few times more.

3. Store any leftover pesto in the refrigerator, where it will keep for more than a week. Pesto can also be frozen.

Baked Pesto Chicken
makes 4 servings
1 lb. chicken (I used boneless thighs, but breasts work well too)
salt and black pepper
1 cup pesto
4 oz. mozzarella cheese (I buy mozz. in a block because shredded cheeses usually have added starches to keep it from clumping)

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Trim all visible fat and tendons from chicken pieces and season with salt and pepper. 

2. Spray a 9" x 12" baking dish with non-stick spray, then spread 1/2 of the pesto over the bottom of the dish. Lay chicken pieces over the pesto, then spread the rest of the pesto over the chicken, making sure to cover all of the pieces.

{pre-baking chicken + pesto}

3. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil (or use a baking dish with a tight-fitting lid) and bake the chicken for 25-30 minutes, just until chicken is barely firm and cooked through. But don't cook too much at this point, or the chicken will be overcooked by the time the cheese is melted and browned.

4. When the chicken is barely cooked through, remove foil and spread the chicken with mozzarella cheese slices. Put dish back into the oven without foil and cook 5 -10 minutes more, until the cheese is melted and lightly browned. (If your broiler is separate from the oven, start preheating it when you take the chicken out.) After I melted the cheese for 5 minutes I switched my oven to broil and broiled for 5 minutes more, just long enough to get the cheese lightly browned.

{ready to eat}

Basic Starch Free Stew

This stew is a household staple and is really good as leftovers. The recipe is adapted from Jamie's Food Revolution cookbook. He gives four basic combinations: beef and ale, chicken and white wine, pork and cider or lamb and red wine. The one I usually make is pork and cider, but any of these combinations would be tasty (and starch free!) and they're provided at the end of the post. I changed a few of the amounts and left out a couple of ingredients that were starchy.

Basic Stew Recipe
serves 4-6
3-4 stalks celery, trimmed of ends and chopped
2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
3-4 large tomatoes, diced
olive oil
salt and pepper
3 sprigs fresh sage or 1-2 teaspoons ground sage
1 pound diced stewing pork
2 cups medium dry hard cider

Put a Dutch oven on the stove on medium heat. Put all the vegetables and the sage into the pan with about 3 tablespoons olive oil and fry for 10 minutes. Add the pork, then pour in the cider and tomatoes. Give it a good stir, then season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, put the lid on and simmer slowly for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the lid for the final 1/2 hour of simmering and add a little water if it's looking dry. When done, the meat should be really tender. Remove the herb stalks before serving and add salt and pepper to taste. I like to add a little sour cream when serving, to make it creamier and cool it down.

Beef and ale: 2 hours simmering
3 fresh or dried bay leaves
1 lb. diced stewing beef
2 cups brown ale, Guinness or stout

Chicken and white wine: 1 hour simmering
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 lb. diced, boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 cups white wine

Lamb and red wine: 2 hours simmering
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 lb. diced stewing lamb
2 cups red wine