I can’t believe I’ve been blogging for nearly a year and a half and this firm family favourite of weekend dinners has thus far failed to make an appearance. It’s a recipe I originally stole from my Mum, who stole from Delia, that’s chopped and changed dramatically over the years and probably bares little resemblance to it’s original form. Changed to make it quicker, easier and more suitable family fodder, and it never disappoints my lot. It’s a cheap and frugal dish (the one pot usually stretching to at least two dinners), flavoursome (think smoked paprika, chorizo, orange, olives), wholesome (brown rice and a barrage of veggies), hearty and substantial. And can handily be partly or wholly made in advance. Perfect for a weekend lunch or dinner and the tasty leftovers re-heated for a quickie dinner in the week, or even eaten cold for lunch. And my kids LOVE it, Jacques devours it. But then they are fiends for anything rice these days. If your monsters are veggie adverse like mine it’s a handy dish to hide a multitude of the good stuff, just chop them unidentifiably small!.
Chop and change your veggies as to what’s in season. In this particular recipe I used red pepper (the only veggie I would highly recommend you always add) chopped pumpkin (as we still have an inordinate amount to get through!), celery, carrots and french green beans from the freezer. Courgettes, peas, squash, sweet potato, broccoli or mushrooms all work equally as well, just mix and match as to what’s seasonal and you have in.
Since I’m using seasonal veggies aplenty I’m entering this post to Simple and In Season, a monthly challenge that showcases seasonal produce and is the baby of Ren of Fabulicious Food. This month I so happen to be hosting the event!. I’m also entering Javelin Warrior‘s Made with Love Mondays, as it’s a dish made from scratch, and finally to Credit Crunch Munch as it’s a pretty frugal dish that stretches a long way. Credit Crunch Munch is held jointly by Camilla of Fab Food 4 All and this month by Helen of Fuss Free Flavours. Now on with the recipe….
Jacques chowing down on his beloved chicken and rice. He’s not a pretty eater!
Spanish Stylie Baked Chicken & Rice
Great for Toddlers & Young Children, Hiding Veggies, Bigger Kids, Family or Grown up Dinners, Mains, One Pot Wonders, Week-end Slowies
Serves 6 or a family of 4 twice
a tablespoon of Olive Oil
6 free range Chicken pieces – legs or thighs or a mixture of the two, skin removed
a large Onion, large dice
3 cloves of Garlic, finely sliced
a stick of Celery, finely sliced*
2 Carrots, fine dice*
300g of Pumpkin or Butternut, large dice*
2 Red Peppers, large dice
150g of French Green Beans, cut into inch long lengths*
120g of Chorizo, sliced into 0.5cm thick slices
a heaped teaspoon of Hot Smoked Paprika
300g of Brown Rice
200ml of White Wine
500ml of Chicken Stock
a 400g can of Chopped Tomatoes
2 Bay Leaves
a small bunch of fresh Thyme sprigs, tied together
Black Pepper
½ an Orange, cut into 6 segments
60g of de-stoned Black or Green Olives
Special Equipment: A large lidded ovenproof casserole or Le Creuset style dish that can go on a hob
* Please feel free to vary your veggies as to what’s in season or you have in
Pre-heat your oven to 180ºC/Gas Mark 4.
Heat the oil in your casserole or Le Creuset on a medium to high heat. Once hot fry off the chicken pieces until golden on all sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Turn down the heat and add the onion, garlic, celery and carrots, there should be plenty of residual fat from the chicken, but if not add a splash more olive oil. Saute for 5 minutes before adding the pumpkin and peppers. Cook for a further 5 minutes.
Now throw in the green beans and chorizo and cook for a further few minutes until the chorizo is oozing it’s lovely juices. Stir in the hot smoked paprika and cook for a moment or two before stirring in the rice. Ensure all the grains are coated in the oily spicy loveliness before pouring in the white wine, chicken stock, chopped tomatoes, bay leaves, thyme and a generous pinch or two of black pepper. Give everything a thorough stir and bring to a gentle simmer.
Take the pot off the heat and place the set aside chicken pieces on the top, pressing them down into the rice. Slot the orange segments where ever there’s space and scatter over the olives. Place the lid on the pot and slide into the oven.
Bake for 45 minutes. The rice and veggies should all be perfectly tender. Eat and enjoy!.
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Paella
Mediterranean Pot Roast Chicken
Chez Foti 
March 18th, 2013 at 3:33 pm
That sounds really good and I love things that stretch to more than one meal. I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one with a vegetable hater son 😆
March 18th, 2013 at 4:32 pm
Wonderful, your recipe sounds amazing and I’m loving the photo of Jacques with his meal. When a child eagerly eats a dish it has to be delicious.
March 18th, 2013 at 4:53 pm
Thanks. So true about children, though Jacques used to be this eager about all his food…but is sadly becoming increasingly fussy now he’s in full throttle of the Terrible Twos!
March 18th, 2013 at 5:11 pm
Oh my, what a hearty dish! And I love how it all goes into one big pot to cook together – that’s my idea of easy! There’s so much to love about this meal with all the different flavors and textures – I’m not surprised your family loves it… Thanks so much for sharing!
March 21st, 2013 at 6:24 pm
Thanks JW. I love a one pot wonder dinner, and this is one of my favourites!
March 18th, 2013 at 5:35 pm
I bet the addition of chorizo, orange and olives catapult this dish into something utterly delicious. My mouth is watering. Nice one ‘Chorizo Sister!’
March 21st, 2013 at 6:24 pm
Thanks fellow Chorizo Sister!
March 18th, 2013 at 9:56 pm
Oooh yeah – love the sound of this! And even more so because it’s one of your family favourites so properly tried and tested over a few generations too. Got to be good. It’s funny isn’t it, that the dishes we cook time and time again seem to take the longest to appear on the blog. It’s got me thinking about all our regulars that haven’t appeared on mine yet. Might have to do something about that!
March 21st, 2013 at 6:27 pm
Unbelievably there’s still a few more favourites I haven’t got around to blogging. I’m sure it’s because I’ve made them that many times I can’t help but think of them as a little boring! Though probably not to anyone outside Chez Foti.
March 18th, 2013 at 10:02 pm
Looks wonderful – I love these one pot family dinners. Especially with the cunningly hidden veggies. Another good use for the many chorizo still hanging above our wood store too!
March 21st, 2013 at 6:31 pm
Each and every time I cook with chorizo I can’t help but wonder how much tastier your homemade chorizo must be, and more importantly what better and traceable ingredients it must contain. Bad case of homemade chorizo envy I’m afraid!
March 18th, 2013 at 10:22 pm
What a great family one pot dish. I have finally converted all my children into loving rice as much as I do. It took years of persuasion but now we are there, I will be trying out variations on the theme and this will be one of them!
March 21st, 2013 at 6:49 pm
Weirdly enough rice is the one thing both mine have always loved, and they’d happily eat a plate of plain steamed rice…..annoying preferring it to the curry on the side!
March 18th, 2013 at 10:31 pm
What colourful and nutritiious dish which I’m sure probably tastes even better the following day as the flavours can really marinate together. Thank you for entering Credit Crunch Munch with your fabulous Delia derivative:-)
March 21st, 2013 at 6:50 pm
Thanks Camilla, it does actually taste better the next day!
March 18th, 2013 at 11:37 pm
Sounds wonderful. Unfortunately our boys won’t eat anything with a tomato-based sauce [weeps]. Will try it some time they’re not eating with us though!
March 21st, 2013 at 6:52 pm
Oh no poor you, avoiding tomatoes is no mean feat! You need to convert them 😉
March 22nd, 2013 at 12:07 am
I try… they eat pizza but “it’s just the same sauce as on pizza” goes down like a lead balloon.
March 19th, 2013 at 1:27 pm
An beautiful dish, bursting with flavour! yum
March 21st, 2013 at 6:55 pm
Thanks Nazima, it is a rather tasty little number!
March 21st, 2013 at 1:36 pm
That sounds really ggod, I’ll try your recipe.
March 22nd, 2013 at 8:55 am
Thanks Dominque, it’s a real favourite with us.
March 21st, 2013 at 1:37 pm
good, sorry !!!