My hubs likes his food mild, I’m more in the middle – I like  little spice but not so much that the only taste sensation is one of burning. This dish can be made from mild to wild with just a few changes.

To keep it mild enough for the hubs, I omitted the green peppers and picante sauce. I also used just a tiny amount of chili powder.  The cinnamon adds a great flavor.  This is a great dish and it reheated beautifully (although I did pack some extra tomato sauce I had in the freezer just in case).

I use mostly Simply Organic because my local store carries a lot of their products. What I can’t get there, I get on Amazon.  They have boxed Macaroni and Cheese for those that need to ween their kids off of Kraft as does Amy’s Organic and Annie’s Homegrown.  Both Amy and Annie’s for me is hit and miss.

I keep my pantry stocked with Amy’s  Organic Lentil Soup which is amazing, as well as her Low Fat No Chicken Noodle Soup. As for Annies, I have her Organic P’sghetti With Soy Meatballs on auto order with Amazon (12 cans a month just for me and I rarely make it to the end of the month), but her plain loops are terrible.  Not sure why, you’d think they’d be identical.  I pull these out on days like this where I didn’t make a vegetarian version of dinner for myself.  I could have made this vegetarian easily since I used the No Chicken base, but I was out of  Quorn for the protein.

As for the black olives, tree-ripened means no horrible chemical bath and the taste is amazing. I still use the canned version for the hubs because he doesn’t care about the chemicals (I’m green, organic & vegetarian…he’s all meat, all chemical, and use it until we lose it , but I like the better quality tree-ripened version.

Click to see the photos full size

Spanish Chicken & Rice Bake

• 16 oz boneless skinless chicken breast halves (usually 5-6)
• 2 T olive oil (I use Simply Organic Olive Oil)
• 1 medium onion, chopped (I used it from my freezer stash of chopped onions)
• 1/4 cup chopped green pepper (I omitted but could have pulled it from my freezer stash of pre-chopped vegetables)
• 1 garlic clove, minced (I use organic minced garlic to save time)
• 1 can (14-1/2) oz diced tomatoes (I used S&W Organic Diced Tomatoes – do not drain)
• 1-1/4 cup water
• 3/4 cup uncooked long grain rice (NOT Instant Rice – brown or white is fine)
• 2 tsp Better Than Bouillon Organic No Chicken Base, or same amount of chicken granules, or 1-1/4 cups chicken broth deleting the water above)
• 1 to 3 tsp chili powder (I used 1 tsp of Simply Organic Chili Powder)
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon (I use Simply Organic Ground Cinnamon)
• 1/8 tsp ground cumin (I use Simply Organic Ground Cumin Seed)
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper (I use Simply Organic Medium Grind Black Pepper)
  
• 1/2 cup picante sauce (I omitted)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I use Tillamook -I haven’t found an organic cheese yet that competes with Tillamook)
• 1 can (small) black olives sliced and drained (I used Organic, Tree-Ripened, Pitted Black Olives whole and hand sliced)

In a large skillet, brown the chicken in the olive oil.  Remove from pan and keep warm.  In the same pan, saute the onions and garlic until tender but not brown.  Stir in the tomatoes, water, rice, and bouillon.  Cover and simmer.

Pour into a greased 13×9″ pan and then top with the browned chicken.  Cover an bake 30-35 minutes or until the rice is cooked and chicken juices run clear.

Uncover, spoon on the picante and top with cheese.  Put it back in the oven for 5 minutes longer or until the cheese is melted.  Top with olives.

3 to 5 servings