Arroz con pollo ¡Qué rico!

We had our friends Kristin and Jordan over for Sunday dinner (which in our family is at 2:00 p.m.) this weekend for Spanish chicken and rice, or arroz con pollo as you may know it. I've been eating this dish on Sundays since I can't even remember, as it was one of the traditions brought over from the old country. Thought you might enjoy the recipe (my great-grandmother's, with my lower-fat changes in brackets...believe it or not, it's just as good low fat):

Ingredients:
1 pack of [skinless, boneless] chicken [breasts]
1 jar of sliced pimentos (drained)
1 jar of green Spanish olives (stuffed with pimentos, drained)
2 pinches of Spanish saffron*
Uncle Ben's CONVERTED rice**
1/2 onion, coarsely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
salt/pepper to taste (I don't use a lot, and then add to the finished dish on the plate, but it's up to you)
Virgin or extra virgin Spanish olive oil (the Italian stuff will make you impotent) ;-)

Grab a large, [non-stick] frying pan, and pour in a dollop of oil about 3 inches round. Heat on medium-high until a haze forms above it.

Add garlic and onion and sauté until onion begins to brown slightly (Keep moving it around the pan! You don't want to burn it or the garlic!)

Add chicken, pimentos, salt and pepper (you want a decent amount of both salt and pepper on the chicken), and fry until chicken is starting to brown. Turn off heat and cover skillet.

Boil enough water for the serving size of rice you want (for four people, I make the six-serving amount as outlined on the Uncle Ben's box).

If your saffron is a powder, add two pinches (small ones) to the water. If your saffron is in whole strands, crush one pinch with a morter and pestle or between two spoons and then add to water. Water should turn bright yellow. Add rice (as per directions on Uncle Ben's box). Reduce heat, cover, simmer until water cooks off and rice is done.

In a cassarole dish, combine rice, chicken et al, and olives, and bake at 350 until you taste an olive and it's hot.

Serve with a salad of lettuce, chopped onion, and lots of salt with an olive oil/white vinegar dressing. Yum!

Recommended wine: Marqués de Cáceres Rioja

*(Note: Do not buy the cheap stuff in the Mexican food area at the grocery store labeled "Saffron." I don't know what it is, but it's not 100% saffron, and it tastes totally different. If the saffron costs less than $12/packet, don't buy it. Don't freak about how much it costs, as a little saffron will last you a long time.)

**(Don't laugh, my Spanish great-grandmother used Uncle Ben's. And it MUST be converted rice for ease-of-use issues....)