Vaguely Southwestern Chicken and Rice

Last night, the green beans and the carrots went bad.

This was especially frustrating, since I had just come from Trader Joes to get chicken.

The original plan was to have baked chicken with veggies and rice on the side, but since that wasn't happening, it was time to get creative.

I don't have a well-stocked pantry. This should probably change. Fortunately, I had exactly one can of tomatoes.

What I ended up doing was making a chicken and rice bowl. I melted butter in a saucepan until it browned, sauteed raw rice with salt and paprika until it get crispy, and added the entire can of tomatoes and one cup of water (the tomato juice made up for the rest of the liquid). I let that cook.

Meanwhile, I diced the chicken and browned it with Cajun seasoning. I like chicken almost burned, but that's a personal preference.

The chicken was done before the rice, so I just combined it all in the pot when the rice was finished cooking. The paprika gave it a nice smokey flavor, and what was initially emergency rations turned into a meal Boyfriend now requires I make regularly.