I chose arroz con pollo for my pairing with the film “Moonlight,” as it’s my take on a dish that one of the supporting characters makes as a special meal for the lead character.

This vegan, gluten-free recipe makes 2 “servings.”

Ingredients
0.5 cups white rice, uncooked
2 servings vegan, gluten-free chik’n
1 16-ounce jar salsa

Instructions
Cook your rice.

While the rice is cooking, fry up your chik’n in a nonstick or greased frying pan over medium heat.

Once the chik’n is warm, add half of the jar of salsa. Stir so the chik’n is coated in salsa and turn the heat to low.

When the rice is cooked, stir the other half of the salsa jar into it. Mix the two ingredients thoroughly.

Plate the rice and put the saucy chik’n over the top.

Eat and watch “Moonlight!”

The Easy Route
The easiest quick step is to buy pre-cooked rice. You might also be able to find pre-seasoned rice and/or pre-seasoned chik’n.

You might also be lucky enough to have a local restaurant that will make vegan, gluten-free arroz con pollo for you.

The Pairing
“Moonlight” is a film that stayed with me long after watching it during the 2016-17 awards season, and it has stood up on rewatches.

The film follows Chiron at three stages of his life: boyhood (played by Alex R. Hibbert), the teenage years (Ashton Sanders) and as an adult (Trevante Rhodes). All three actors are incredible in their respective eras, especially as they are given outstanding performances to play off from the supporting cast, which includes Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Jharrel Jerome, André Holland and Janelle Monáe.

As a person who struggled to develop strong bonds with people and didn’t fully become a human until my 30s, I can really relate to Chiron, and Rhodes’ performance in particular just broke my heart, as I found his scenes with Holland’s Kevin immensely relatable. The relatability of the film has only echoed as I am slowly coming to terms with my identity as a queer person, which is why I chose “Moonlight” to begin Pride Month this year.

This masterpiece from filmmaker Barry Jenkins will surely not be the only work of his I include on the blog. His follow up, an adaptation of James Baldwin’s “If Beale Street Could Talk,” is an equally stunning work of art.

In addition to the spectacular performances and storytelling, I can’t end this post without mentioning the cinematography in “Moonlight.” Cinematographer James Laxton’s work is so well done and absolutely perfect in the beach scenes throughout the movie.

If you decide to make arroz con pollo and/or watch “Moonlight,” let us know! Tag us in your Instagram posts & stories, tweets or TikTok videos: @veg_out_recipes