El Pollo Loco part 2 - The Pollo Bowl

One of my favorite items from El Pollo Loco is the Pollo Bowl, with or with out chicken it is freaking delicious.  Rice and beans, chicken topped with cheese salsas and sour cream?  What could be better?

First you need to make some Mexican style rice.  I heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet with a clove of crushed garlic and then add my rice.  I used 2/3 of a cup.  When the rice has been heated (it gets like a more opaque white)  add in the liquid.  For this I used about a 1/3 cup of salsa and a cup of chicken broth stirred together.  I added a bit of salt and cumin for extra flavor.  Bring to a boil and then turn down to low heat, cook for 20 minutes or until rice is tender.  You can do this with canned tomato sauce, with some taco sauce added for spice and use water instead of chicken broth, but I had this available today so went with it.

Heat up some about a 1/2 cup of black or pinto beans (I use canned I haven't mastered bean making yet) with a tiny bit of salsa added.  Add chicken to the heated beans to heat up if you have/want it.  Put the rice in a bowl, add beans and chicken,  top with some grated cheese (today I used cheddar but crumbled queso fresco is amazing on this too)  add desired salsas, sour cream and guacamole if you have it (I did not).