Cheesy Mexican-Style Brown Rice With Crème Fraîche & A Chicken Breast

Before you begin...

Get all your ingredients and equipment ready

Skim through these steps, then wash your fruit and veg

Note: Equipment and pan sizes vary. Make sure you cook food thoroughly (even if it takes you a little longer than 10 min)

Added chicken? Cook at 220°C / 200°C (fan) / gas 7 for 18-20 min

Now, let's get started!

Boil half a kettle

Peel and roughly slice your shallot[s]

Deseed your pepper[s] (scrape the seeds and pith out with a teaspoon) and chop roughly

Heat a large, wide-based pan (preferably non-stick with a matching lid) with a drizzle of vegetable oil over a medium-high heat

Once hot, add the sliced shallot and chopped pepper with a pinch of salt and cook for 2-3 min or until starting to soften

Once slightly softened, add your roasted garlic paste, ground smoked paprika and ground cumin and cook for a further 1 min or until fragrant

Meanwhile, drain and rinse your black beans and your sweetcorn

Once fragrant, add the drained black beans and sweetcorn to the pan with your chopped tomatoes, chipotle paste (can't handle the heat? Go easy!), vegetable stock mix and 50ml [75ml] [100ml] boiled water and bring to the boil over a high heat

Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium-high and cook for 2-3 min further or until the sauce has begun to thicken – this is your Mexican-style tomato sauce

Meanwhile, squeeze your pouch[es] of cooked long grain rice to separate the grains

Tear the top corner of the pouch[es] (just a little!) and microwave for 2 min or until piping hot

Tip: If you're cooking two or more pouches, pop them in together but increase the microwave cook time accordingly

While everything is cooking, drain your mozzarella, then pat and squeeze as much liquid out as you can with kitchen paper

Tear the drained mozzarella into rough, bite-sized pieces

Chop your chives finely

Add the cooked rice to the Mexican-style tomato sauce with a pinch of salt and give everything a good mix up

Top with the torn mozzarella and cook, covered, for 2 min or until the mozzarella has started to melt – this is your cheesy Mexican-style rice