Chicken With Rice & Beans

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo With This Amazing Chicken with Rice and Beans Recipe!

Ingredients:

Chicken w/ onion topping

1 Spanish onion cut in rings topping

4 chicken breasts, butterflied, pounded out flat

2 cloves chopped garlic

Juice of 2.5 limes

Few Pinch/twists of black pepper

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

Pinch cumin

Pinch cayenne pepper

Rice

1 cup white rice

2 cloves garlic whole

Pinch kosher salt

Whole bay leaf

Beans/ Sofrito

4 oz bacon finely chopped

½ Spanish onion chopped fine

½ green bell pepper chopped fine

2 cloves garlic minced

12 oz beans soaked overnight before (can also use can of beans) liquid reserved!

Directions:

Marinate chicken in ziplock bag with two cloves garlic chopped, juice of two limes, pepper, tablespoon kosher salt, pinches of sugar, pinch cumin, cayenne pepper. Massage until evenly distributed, put in fridge for 30 min.

While marinating and before cooking the chicken, work on cooking the rice and beans/sofrito

Rinse white rice until water runs clear. Add cup and a half water to large sauce pan along with white rice, garlic, kosher salt, bay leaf. Cover and simmer until rice is tender and fluffy.

Sauté bacon in large saucepan, add a little bit of water to render out as much fat as possible before removing the bacon. Set aside. Then, add chopped onion, bell pepper. Sauté until onions are soft and translucent before adding the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Then add back the bacon along with 12 oz, soaked black beans and a little of soaking liquid. Simmer over medium low heat until beans are soft.

Add a little bit of chicken fat/ghee/butter to hot skillet/griddle. Sauté onions and get some caramelized color and flavor- want to retain their shape and firmness. Once done, take chicken out of marinade and place on hot skillet. Wait until they develop nice color and crust before flipping and squeezing fresh lime on top.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!