Unlike our meatloaf this has no official name, no recipe, and no celebrity foodie to mention...
Rancho Gordo black beans are the best I've ever had. This variety, whose name escapes me at the moment, is larger than most black beans we're accustomed to seeing in restaurants and from cans and bags. When cooked, these are the size of a pinto bean and have a rich but delicate flavor with just the right amount of bite. Jack slow cooked them with chicken broth from a base of minced onions and celery. Garnished with fresh cilantro, a splash of neon-green hot sauce, a drop or two of red hot sauce, and minced sweet onion, they were delightful.
The chicken was cut into pieces, deboned, and browned over medium-high heat in a cast iron skillet. Once the chicken was "almost there", quartered onions and halved jalapeno peppers were added to the skillet and tossed for a minute in the hot oil. A can of salsa verde was then added. The skillet was moved into a hot (450 degree oven) for 20 minutes. If we were making this with bone-in chicken, the cooking time would be adjusted to the 45 - 60 minute range. If in doubt, use a thermometer to verify done-ness by checking for an internal temperature of 165 degrees in the thickest part of the chicken.
Packaged yellow or Spanish rice can be livened-up by adding a bit of Chipotle peppers (from a jar), hot sauce, whole kernel corn, or any number of ingredients.
Our new find for this meal is plantain, a fruit in the banana family common in several ethnic cuisines. Jack bought one for 39 cents at Aldi last week with a sticker reading, "Grill me when I'm yellow." So we did.
After a few minutes in a lightly-oiled hot skillet until golden-brown and caramelized around the edges, the sliced plantain was a delicious addition to the chicken, which was then finished with diced mango, avocado, sweet onion, and cilantro.
Serve with warm flour tortillas.
I can't even believe how delicious, beautiful, and affordable (less than $10 for two) this meal was.
