Chicken And Rice With Chipotle

1 cup rice (I normally use Uncle B's long grain)

2 1/2 cups water

2 chicken breasts -- boned and trimmed,

or equivalent 2 tablespoons oil for frying

2 dry chipotle peppers (at the least - you

may want more) 1/2 green bell pepper

1/2 red bell pepper

1/2 medium onion

2 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp cumin -- pref. whole seed

coarsely ground 1/8 tsp tumeric for color

bouqet of herbs such as oregano or whatever is available - experiment! salt to taste

First, do the prep work: Cut onion and bell peppers into fingertip-size pieces. Tear chipotle peppers into thumbnail-size pieces (if you are serving non- chile heads, tear the chipotle into bigger pieces, so they can fish it out and put it on your plate). Cut the chicken into big nuggets. Mince the garlic. Crush the cumin. Cook the rice with the water, according to package directions. I recommend that you avoid the more convenient varieties, which come out looking like chromosones. I like the usual long-grain, but you could also use a package of "wild" rice or some kind of mix of whatever you like. Add the tumeric and chipotle pepper, and stir occasionally. When rice is nearly done, quickly fry the chicken, bell peppers, garlic and onion. The chicken should be cooked through, and it's also nice to brown it a bit. Combine all ingredients in the rice pot for the last moments of rice cooking. Add the herbs and stir. If necessary, you can hold the finished mix in the pot for some time - it's handy when you have to round everybody up to the table. Eat, get on a horse, and ride into the sunset. (Well, that last part worked for me in southern Wisconsin in '94.) Alex Silbajoris