Chicken with Rice and Black Beans

One of my favorite "celebrity chefs" is Rick Bayless of Fontera and Top Chef Masters fame.  His cookbooks focus on creating flavorful authentic Mexican dishes.  The book that I have been cooking out of recently is "Mexican Everyday".  In this book Rick simplifies many of his more complex dishes making them quicker and easier to prepare thus the name Mexican Everyday.  You will not find Taco Bell or Chi Chi's style (not that there anything wrong with that) Mexican food in this book. You will get real deal authentic Mexican flavors.  Rick does a great job at suggesting substitutes for ingredients that may be hard to find.  He also includes several stories about his travels in Mexico that add a personal touch to the dishes.  The most recent dish that I made out of this book is Ricks "riff" on Arroz con Pollo.  It's a very simple, one dish meal that you can easily feed an army with.  I like to garnish this dish with a lime wedge and some cilantro.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
Salt
2 1/2 tablespoons of ancho chile powder
1 medium white onion
1 1/2 cups of rice
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups of chicken stock
1 15 oz can of black beans (rinsed)
1/4 cup of chopped green onions

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large heavy pot over medium high heat.  Salt the chicken breasts on both sides then sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the chile powder over both sides of the chicken breast.  When the oil is hot, place all 4 chicken breasts into the pot and sear them for about 2 or 3 minutes per side.  Remove the chicken from the pot and reserve for later use.  The chicken will not be cooked through at this point so don't worry if it comes out a little pink.  At this point we are just trying to get a nice sear on the chicken and add some flavor to the oil.  If the chicken absorbed a lot of the oil, add a little bit more to the pot.

Now add the rice and onion to the pot and stir constantly for about 3 minutes or until the rice starts to turn opaque.  Add the garlic, remaining chile powder and stir for about a minute.  Add the broth, a pinch of salt and stir well.  When the broth comes to a boil, cover, reduce to medium-low heat and cook for 10 minutes. 

While the rice is cooking, cut the reserved chicken into 1 inch cubes. After the rice has cooked for 10 minutes, add the beans,  the chicken and any reserved juices.  Stir the pot, cover, and cook for another 12 minutes.

Now, add the green onions, stir, and remove the pot from the heat.  Return the cover the pot and let the mixture sit for 10 minutes. 

After it has sat for 10 minutes, stir the mixture, spoon into bowls, and garnish with some cilantro and a lime wedge.  Grab a cerveza, and enjoy!

3 of my favorite things!