By February. The month I endure. The month that exists only as a passage between the death of January and the hope of March, a twenty-eight-day purgatory of gray skies and frozen streets and the specific despair of a Puerto Rican woman who was not designed for this climate and has said so every February for thirty-one years. Eduardo says I should try to enjoy the snow. I say, Eduardo, I have tried to enjoy the snow every year since 1989 and the snow has not met me halfway.
But February is also the month I go home. Every year, February, Bayamón. The annual pilgrimage. This year I am going the first week — flying out Thursday, spending five days with Marisol, walking the streets of Hato Tejas, buying sofrito ingredients at the market because the culantro tastes different when it grows in Puerto Rican soil and anyone who says otherwise has never been homesick, eating from the roadside kiosks, standing in the cemetery where Papi and Abuela Consuelo are buried, and remembering that I am from somewhere warm and loud and beautiful and that the somewhere made me and the somewhere is still there even when I am not.
Before the trip, I prepped meals for Eduardo and Sofía — five days' worth of food in containers labeled with masking tape and instructions that Eduardo does not need because Eduardo has been reheating my food for thirty-one years but that I write anyway because the writing is a form of care and the care is a form of being present even when absent. Arroz con pollo. Habichuelas guisadas. Carne guisada. Tostones (pre-smashed, ready to refry). Sofrito cubes in the freezer. Eduardo looked at the refrigerator full of labeled containers and said, You are gone for five days, not five months. I said, Five days without my cooking is five days too long. He did not argue.
Mami was having a bad week. The fog thick, the confusion frequent, asking about people who are dead as if they are alive, asking about Bayamón as if she still lives there. I went to her apartment on Wednesday and brought her habichuelas and rice and sat with her while she ate, slowly, carefully, the fork trembling in her hand. She called me Marisol. I did not correct her. What does it matter which daughter she thinks she is feeding? The food is the same. The love is the same. The daughter in front of her will always answer.
The habichuelas and arroz con pollo I left for Eduardo and Sofía came from a lifetime of instinct — but if you’re building your own labeled-container refrigerator for someone you love, this cheesy broccoli, chicken and rice bowl is the kind of forgiving, filling thing that reheats like a dream and tastes like someone thought about you before they left. It’s not Puerto Rican, not even close, but the gesture is the same: here is warmth, here are instructions, here is proof that I am still feeding you even from a thousand miles away. Make a big batch, write the dates on the masking tape, and go.
Cheesy Broccoli, Chicken and Rice Bowls (Meal Prep)
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 cups long-grain white rice, uncooked
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 3 cups broccoli florets (fresh or frozen)
- 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup milk or cream
Instructions
- Cook the rice. In a medium saucepan, combine rice and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 18–20 minutes until broth is absorbed and rice is tender. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork.
- Season and cook the chicken. Toss chicken pieces with garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook 6–8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cooked through and lightly golden. Transfer to a plate.
- Steam the broccoli. While chicken cooks, steam broccoli florets in a steamer basket or microwave with 2 tablespoons of water, covered, for 3–4 minutes until just tender and bright green. Season lightly with salt.
- Make the cheese sauce. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Add milk and stir to combine. Add 1 cup cheddar and all the mozzarella, stirring constantly until melted and smooth. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Assemble the bowls. Divide the cooked rice evenly among 4 meal prep containers. Top each with equal portions of chicken and broccoli. Drizzle cheese sauce generously over each bowl and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup cheddar.
- Store and reheat. Seal containers and refrigerate for up to 5 days. To reheat, remove lid and microwave on medium-high for 2–2 1/2 minutes, stirring once halfway through. Add a splash of water or broth before reheating if the rice seems dry.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 610 | Protein: 48g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 62g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 480mg