And then I scramble around the house to get ingredients together and finish cleaning. Somedays (like today) I discover I never defrosted anything and have to resort to the microwave. I despise defrosting things in there. The edges alway cook and taste rubbery, and I end up cutting them off and throwing them out. It's a waste of food.
And tonight I'm cooking something pretty new to me. Red beans with chicken and yellow rice. My boyfriend's family is hispanic and cooks some fantastic foods. One day I will get his grandmother's empanada recipe and I will die a happy woman. But I always get nervous when I cook beans and rice. It's my boyfriend's favorite food and I always think I've made wrong halfway through. But in the end, it always tastes pretty close to his mothers.
Red Beans with Yellow Rice and Chicken
Ingredients:
For Red Beans:
- 1 -2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1/2 of a large onion OR 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons Sofrito
- 2 tablespoons Racaito
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 large can tomato sauce
- 1-2 cans pink beans, rinsed
- about 1-2 cups of a chopped firm veggie. Good ones to use are carrots, pumpkin, yams, yellow squashes. Something really hearty and firm.
- 1-2 skinless chicken breasts
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 family size package of yellow rice
Directions:
Put oil in the bottom of a large pot. Turn on medium high and add onions. You want them chopped a little on the small side. Add your Sofrito, Recaito, and minced garlic.
Sauté, being very careful not to burn the garlic. If you burn the garlic it just tastes awful at the end. When the onions turn clear, add your sauce and your pink beans. I ended up using a 28 oz. can of sauce and only 1 16 oz. can of pink beans this time.
I added about a 1/2 cup of water at this point because it was a little thick for my liking, but you don't have to. Dump in your veggie. You don't wanna stray too far from the examples I gave, but it's one of those "cook what you have/is in season" meals. This time around I used yams. Well, a single yam. But it was HUGE.
I am super excited to make it with pumpkin this year, which is weird considering I HATE pumpkin pie. Turn the heat to low, cover and let simmer until the veggie of your choice is fork tender, stirring occasionally.
While that's going, start your rice and chicken. The brand of yellow rice I buy says to put 4 cups of water and a 1/4 cup of butter in a pot to boil. Obviously, if your brand suggests something different, follow those directions.
I take my chicken, chop it into bite size pieces, and throw it in the water for the rice at the very start. My rice package goes on to instruct me to add the rice once it's boiled, reduce heat, cover tightly and simmer for 25 minutes. I did just that, making sure to mix the chicken into the rice first. When both are done, put a generous spoonful of rice and chicken in a bowl, and top with another generous spoonful of the red beans. I like to add a dash or two of hot sauce to mine but not everyone likes spice.
Once you have eaten that, go back for seconds or even thirds.
Mangia!
