Botan Calrose Rice Chicken and Rice Green Chili Recipe Review

Calrose rice is my favorite rice variety. Maybe it’s my California pride (rice was initially developed in the state and still grows here) or the sticky nature of medium grain rice that makes each bite so satisfying. Whatever the case, my pantry is incomplete without a bag of Botan calrose, ready to be turned into porridge, kimbap, fried rice, and more. When it comes to rice, I’ve put all my trust in Botan, so I decided: why not take it a step further and extend my trust to the recipe printed on the back of the five-pound bag?

I recently became aware of the Green Chile Chicken and Rice recipe, despite purchasing this brand and type of rice for over five years. I’m usually not one to try a recipe off the back of a box because I buy most of my foods with a set intention for their purpose, whether it’s a bag of chocolate chips or a box of dried noodles. . But a bag of rice has so many lives and can be transformed into endless meals, including the recipe recommended on the back.

The recipe seemed pretty simple and only required nine ingredients (most of which are pantry staples). In fact, the only thing I needed to go out of my way to buy was a can of diced green chiles.

The preparation process for this dish took about 40 minutes and was easy enough to be a weeknight dinner. It starts out like many other one-pot rice dishes: you brown the chicken and let it render its fat, which becomes the first flavor component. Once the chicken is browned on both sides, remove it and add the onion and garlic, sautéing the aromatics until translucent. From there, you toss in pretty much everything else: rice, oregano, the can of chiles, and a prepared chicken broth, before layering chicken on top and letting the pot simmer for 25 minutes.

The last step is to remove the pot from the heat and cover the stew with peas and some grated Monterey jack cheese, letting everything melt for 10 more minutes. The result is a warm, comforting dish of chicken and rice with peas and green chiles that also boasts impressive cheesy flavor.

This recipe is extremely simple (it has to fit in the back of the rice bag while also sharing space with the nutritional information), so I took some liberties that I would recommend to anyone interested in trying it. For starters, the recipe never mentions salt or pepper; I generously salted and seasoned my chicken with black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder before browning it and also added salt to the rice. It also calls for a single clove of garlic, which I didn’t feel would provide enough garlic flavor for a four-serving meal, so I increased the amount by an additional clove (although I could see three or four cloves working well for garlic). enthusiasts). And although I used a bouillon cube as the recipe calls for, I think next time I make this recipe I’ll switch it out for chicken broth, which I think would intensify the flavor of the chicken even more and reduce the sodium.

That being said, I don’t have any real complaints. I’m always looking for an easy weeknight dinner and this one hit the spot: it was easy to prepare, didn’t require much cooking time, and had a surprisingly good flavor for how simple it was. I think dressing a bowl with sour cream, sliced ​​jalapenos, and chopped cilantro could bring out the flavor of the green chiles even more, but as is, the recipe is delicious and I will continue making it during the colder months to come.