Make these rice bowls with leftover Chicken Adobo and adobo sauce.

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Serves 4

Ingredients

4 pieces of cooked Chicken Adobo preferably with skin, shredded (about 2-2 1/2 cups)

Adobo Sauce (leftover from making Chicken Adobo)

1 1/2 - 2 cups cooked rice (we used Garlicky Brown Rice)

2 large bunches spinach leaves, unwashed

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup diced whites of spring onion (green parts reserved, see below), or 1/2 cup diced yellow onion

1 shallot, minced (about 2 Tablespoons)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon Aleppo pepper (or about a teaspoon Italian red pepper flakes)

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, plus more if needed to taste

Green parts of 1 spring onion or 1 scallion, sliced thin

2-3 Tablespoons cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

1/3 cup slivered almonds

Instructions

Warm the leftovers:

1. Warm the Chicken Adobo with a splash of its sauce in a covered dish either in the microwave or on the middle rack of a 350 degree oven until piping hot. (In the oven, this should take about as long as it takes to prepare the other ingredients, roughly 20 minutes or so.) 

2. Warm the rice with a splash of water or chicken stock in a small saucepan with a lid over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. (This should take about 15-20 minutes - again, about as long as it takes to prepare the other ingredients.)

3. Warm the Adobo Sauce in a small saucepan over medium-low heat with the lid askew. For this recipe, it should be more of a thick glaze than a watery broth. If it seems watery, turn the heat to medium-high and allow the extra moisture to evaporate as it simmers with the lid off. Keep an eye on it while you work - once it thickens, remove it from heat and put the lid on.

Cook the spinach and toast the almonds:

4. Fill a large bowl with cold water and add the spinach leaves. Swish them around to dislodge any dirt or other debris, changing the water a few times as needed. When the spinach leaves are clean, leave them in the water while you begin the next step.

5. Warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the white or yellow onions and shallots and saute for about 4-5 minutes, until softened and beginning to brown. Turn the heat to medium-low and add the garlic and Aleppo pepper, sauteing briefly just until fragrant. Add the spinach to the skillet by handfulls, briefly allowing the water to drain off before adding it to the skillet while it's still wet. As you add handfuls of spinach, turn them briefly with the other ingredients before adding the next handful. When all the spinach has been added to the skillet, sprinkle with the 1/2 teaspoon salt, stir to combine and cover. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook for about 2-3 minutes until the spinach is wilted.

6. Remove the lid from the spinach and continue to simmer for about 3-5 more minutes as needed, to let the extra moisture evaporate, stirring occasionally. When finished, taste for seasoning. If needed, add a pinch more salt (but remember that your Adobo sauce may already be fairly salty, so proceed with caution). Remove the spinach from heat and keep warm. Check the rice to be sure it’s hot, then turn the heat off and keep it warm with the lid on.

7. Toast the almonds in a small dry skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until they’re slightly brown.

Assemble the rice bowls:

Grab 4 big bowls and layer the ingredients in each bowl as follows:

Spread about 1/3 - 1/2 cup of rice across the bottom of each bowl.

Spread sauteed spinach on top of the rice to taste (we like about 1/4 cup). 

Add about 1/3 cup of shredded chicken with its flavorful skin to each bowl.

Spoon dollops of the Adobo Sauce glaze over the chicken pieces

Sprinkle sliced green spring onions or scallions, and chopped cilantro leaves, over each bowl.

Top each bowl with toasted almonds

Notes:

I created this recipe to use up leftovers after making Chicken Adobo and Garlicky Brown Rice for dinner. It was spring, so I used spring onions I’d recently brought home from the farmers market. But of course you can absolutely make it with scallions and yellow onions as described, so if that’s what you have, go for it!

I used Aleppo pepper in this dish, which is a really tasty little red pepper originally from Aleppo, Syria. It’s more about the flavor than the heat; it’s mildly spicy, but it’s got lots of flavor. If you have classic Italian-style red pepper, you can absolutely use that instead, but you’ll want to use much less because it’s a lot hotter than Aleppo pepper.

Spices and ingredients used in this dish:

If you’re up for more adventure…

You can explore my original recipe series that inspired this dish, and cook your way around the world with chicken recipes:

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