Peruvian Arroz con pollo (rice cooker) fast meal

So I was in a rush tonight and decided to cook a modified version of the classic Peruvian Arroz con pollo. I used a rice cooker, dried cilantro amongst others to reduce the cooking effort as well as brown rice to stay on the “healthy side” — Here you go!

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes (Rice cooker does most of it)

Serves: 4

Ingredients

2 cups of brown rice
4 cups of water (If you are adventurous, try 3 cups of water and 1 cup of beer)
1 (Knorr brand) chicken stock cube (called bouillon cube). Always on the hispanic food aisle (check Target here). Please note you can avoid this if you use chicken stock(chicken broth) instead of water for the rice.
1/2 cup of frozen peas
1/2 cup of frozen yellow corn kernels
1 teaspoon of butter (I use yogurt butter but stick to what you prefer)
1 teaspoon of minced garlic (I buy this already minced for speed)
Salt & pepper (to taste) — Keep in mind the chicken stock is already a bit salty.
4 tablespoons of dried cilantro (I use this for speed but you can certainly chop fresh cilantro if you want and add more cilantro for more “green” color)
8 small frozen chicken breast strips (You can use chicken drumsticks and fresh chicken if you prefer. I chose frozen strips for speed)
Red hot sauce (I used mexican hot sauce due to lack of time, but if you can, the Peruvian natives use the “rocoto” pepper. It is quite spicy. You can buy rocoto online here)

Instructions

Defrost the chicken for 2 mins on the microwave (If you have time, you can lightly grill the chicken over olive oil instead). While defrosting, dump “all” of the above ingredients in to your rice cooker. Be sure to stir the ingredients and “taste” for saltiness. Then add the defrosted chicken, close and start the rice cooker. Once ready on the plate, sprinkle some dried cilantro over the chicken and red sauce as well (or serve on the side). Add some sangria for a great night. That is all for the main dish!

Salad (Optional)

I prepped a quick salad with diced avocado, diced onions, diced tomato, salt, pepper and lime juice (add jalapeño for a kick!)