Gluten Free Chicken and Red Rice: A One-Pot Wonder

My mom and I used to live in Brownsville, Texas, which many of you may know is almost the end of the world. Just kidding, it's the southernmost tip of Texas, but the line between Mexico and the U.S. is pretty blurry right there. Which is good, because can you ever get the best guacamole in Brownsville, Texas. Luckily, my mom acquired some pretty good Mexican cooking recipes while we were there, and it was a great chance for me to get to know my favorite cuisine VERY well. My mom used to always make this dinner for me. I think it's one of my top 5 requested dinners of all time. Now that I think about it, I probably liked it so much because it's naturally gluten free. I'm sure my body was crying out for the non-gluten food when I was a kid, and this one definitely fit the bill. I hope you like it, too.

Gluten Free Chicken and Red Rice

4 chicken breasts or 6 chicken tenders

1/2 cup oil

1 cup uncooked white rice

1/2 diced onion

1 clove minced garlic

1 8 ounce can tomato sauce

2 1/2 cups boiling water

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil over medium heat in a large frypan or electric skillet. Brown chicken in oil until it's lightly golden on both sides. (Chicken does not have to be cooked all the way through at this point.) Remove chicken from oil and add rice to pan. Toast until rice is golden, 1-2 minutes. Add onion , salt and pepper, and cook for 1 minute until onion softens. Add garlic, cook for 30 seconds. Add tomato sauce and water and stir well. Bring to a boil. Add chicken and cover pan with a lid. Turn heat to low and let simmer for 30 minutes or until rice is done and chicken is cooked through. Makes great leftovers.

Happy eating!