Chicken, Chorizo, Brown Rice & Pesto Hash with Greens

On Friday night we had a wee dog ‘incident’. What started out as a casual pooch stroll in the dark with a head lamp ended up in a full-on search for a missing Black Labrador around the farm and nearby streets. I actually felt sick. Fortunately, as luck would have it, just as we were about to turn around and head for home, Jonny spotted a certain Mr Hank behind a tree. Thank GOODNESS. Any dog owner who has had a missing dog will know exactly what this feels like. We were just lucky we were able to bring our dog home.

Following our stressful dog searching ordeal, we arrived home later than expected and in need of some comfort in the form of a warming nutritious bowl of dinner and a glass of red wine. Syrah in fact, a beautiful glass of Giesen Wines Syrah. Thanks GOODNESS.

As I enjoyed a glass of wine, I popped together this super delicious and ultra- fast Friday night dinner using leftover cooked brown rice from Thursday's wild venison stir-fry. This dinner is full of flavour, thrifty and also makes the most delicious leftovers, if there’s any left! You can use whatever vegetables you like and you could also swap out the brown rice for pasta or potatoes which I have done in the past. An easy dinner that’s ready on the table in less than 20 minutes.

After googling hash and its definition, which is “a dish consisting of diced or chopped meat, potatoes, and spices that are mixed together and then cooked either alone or with other ingredients such as onions”, I decided this was indeed a recipe fit to use the word hash, even though I swapped potatoes for rice, but as I mentioned earlier you could use leftover cooked potatoes too! It's the most versatile thing in the world to make and perfect for busy mid-week evenings.

Chicken, Chorizo, Brown Rice & Pesto Hash with Greens – serves 4

1 Tbspn olive oil
500g free-range chicken breasts, chopped or sliced into even pieces
Coarse iodised sea salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
2 chorizo sticks, sliced into rounds
1 Onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
~3 cups leftover cooked brown rice or pasta
1 cup frozen peas
1 head broccoli, broken into florets and steamed until bright green and just tender
2 Tbspn homemade or store bought basil pesto
Parmesan cheese, to serve

Heat the olive oil in a deep pan. Add the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring for ~5 minutes or until golden and just cooked. Set aside on a plate.
To the same pan, add the chorizo pieces and cook until golden and the chorizo oil is starting to come out. Set aside with the chicken.
To the chorizo oil, add the onion and garlic and cook for 5-10 minutes or until the onion is softened. Add a little water to the pan if the onion and garlic are sticking.
To the softened onion, add the brown rice, peas, and broccoli and stir everything together. Add the chicken, chorizo and pesto and mix everything together gently until everything is warmed through and the peas are cooked which will take about 5 minutes.
Divide the hash between four serving bowls and grate over some good quality parmesan cheese to serve.