Arroz Con Pollo with Salsa Verde

Perdue chicken thighs were on sale this week � packages of five thighs for $1.99 a pound � so I bought 6 packs. I washed 15 thighs and put them in the freezer for later, and used 15 to make a hotel pan full of Arroz con Pollo. I saw this dish made on "Food 911" with Tyler Florence.

It's an amazing recipe with a distinctive, deep flavor. Browning the sausage and chicken in the same pan that you cook the sofrito brings tons of flavor. It's one of the more difficult dishes I cook, with lots of prep work and layering of flavors, but well worth it. You can find the basic recipe here: Arroz Con Pollo with Salsa Verde [foodnetwork.com]

Since the recipe calls for one cut-up chicken (10 pieces), I increased each ingredient by 50 percent. Instead of the chorizo, I found a delicious chicken/turkey sausage with hablanero and green chile, and used diced tomatoes with jalapenos (we like spice!). And removing the skin from the thighs doesn't hurt the flavor one bit. I also rough-chopped the Spanish olives, and added a pound of peas to the dish (we need to get our veggies any way we can).

Before freezing, let the chicken cool down and remove the meat from the bone. I plated a half cup of the rice mixture, a chicken thigh, a heaping tablespoon each of the salsa verde and chopped olives. We had a great Sunday night dinner and have 13 portions in the freezer to enjoy later.

What I Cook

Arroz Con Pollo with Salsa Verde