Food Wednesday: Beans and Rice with Chicken

This recipe comes from the Dominican Republic, where my husband served as a missionary for our church for two years.  He learned to love the humble, and tasty food there!  I have yet to visit there, but myself, along with our kids have also grown to love the Caribbean cuisine!

Ingredients
1TBS  olive oil
1/2 - 1 red onion cubed (my girls aren't huge fans of the onions, so I use 1/2... unless I make more portions of course)
1-2      cloves garlic
1 tsp    cilantro
1 tsp    thyme
2          cups water
2          chicken boulian cubes (makes 2 cups chicken broth)
2          cans red kidney beans, strained-keep the bean water (2 cups dried beans = 1 1/2 can)
1 TBS  tomato paste, or 2 TBS tomato sauce

Put a pot on the stove to heat at medium high heat.  Once hot, add olive oil and let heat.  Once oil is hot, add onions and garlic to saute.  Stir frequently, and after about 1 minute, add cilantro and thyme.  Continue to saute.  Once the onions begin to sweat and become clear, add the water to the mixture.  Bring to boil, then add the boulian cubes.  Let boil until dissolved.  Then add the canned, or soft/stewed strained beans.  Stir and let simmer.  Once the water has boiled down, after 5-10 minutes add the bean water.  Let stew for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.  Finally add the tomato paste or sauce, and let simmer on low/medium heat. 

This recipe is super easy and very inexpensive to make.  If you are working with dried beans (even more cost effective) be sure to soak the beans all night in water, then you have to let them stew all day until you are ready to make this recipe.

Serve over a bed of steamed rice.  We usually have chicken with it as well, but be careful not to have too much of the beans and chicken, as they are both proteins.  Serve steamed asperragus on the side, and you have a full, filling and healthy meal!



Let's face it, I cook a lot of meat on a frying pan on my stove.  It is just easy for me, and it always turns out delicious, juicy, and wonderfully every time!  So here is my very simple way to cook the chicken to go with the beans and rice.

Pan Fried Chicken

Ingredients
2-3  boneless chicken breasts
1 TBS olive oil
seasonings

I cut the chicken breasts in half, length-wise, and then I slice them down the middle to make thinner pieces of chicken.  This helps the chicken to cook quicker.  I usually start the chicken after I have added all of the ingredients for the beans, except the tomato paste.  Season the chicken well.  Salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash, thyme, cilantro, and/or other seasonings that you prefer.  Heat up the skillet or fry pan to medium high.  Once hot, add oil, let heat.  Once oil is hot, put chicken in pan, and let cook.  Turn the chicken once.  I like to wait until the first side is nice and browned before I flip it.  After the chicken is done, let it rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Delicious eating, and Happy losing!

Evelyn