My husband is Cuban so we eat a lot of black beans and rice, he grew up on it and now our kids are too. Not to long ago I didn’t have a clue what I was going to make for dinner one night, it was one of those nights that I just stood in front of the pantry looking through what we had. One of the things in there was, of course, black beans, and I knew I had some chicken in the refrigerator that needed to be used so a plan formed. You are going to see that this recipe has vinegar and lemon, which may sound weird but that is the Cuban influence shining through!

Ingredients:

1 large chicken breast

1 can of black beans

1 cup of corn

1 small can of green chilies

1 can of chicken broth

2 tbsp. white vinegar

3 tbsp. lemon juice

1 ½ tsp. Badia complete seasoning

1 tsp. cumin

1/4 tsp. Cayenne

3 cloves of garlic

½ cup water

2 tbsp. butter

So you are probably wondering what is Badia Complete Seasoning and where can I get it? You may be able to find it in your grocery store, I use to get mine at Meijer but they aren’t carrying it any longer. I did find it at Big Lots, which I thought was crazy so it can be found in some odd places. I got a huge container of it from Amazon not too long ago, it is an amazing seasoning and I put it on everything!!

Directions:

Cut your chicken breast into about 5 pieces and add them to a skillet, then add the chicken broth, vinegar, lemon juice, and Badia. Simmer until the chicken is cooked all the way through, if your liquid cooks down too much before the chicken is cooked add about a ¼ cup of water, you want your chicken to be covered about half way in liquid, this way it won’t dry out and you will still be able to shred it.

Once your chicken is cooked take two forks and pull the chicken apart then add the black beans (with all of the liquid from the can of beans), corn, green chilies and press the garlic. Stir everything together and then add the water and cumin cayenne and butter then let the whole thing simmer until it starts to thicken. I know it sounds really weird to add butter but the reason I say this is my husband freeze sweet corn and when we do that we add a lot of butter to it so I always add some of that liquid to this recipe when I add the corn. I like to keep it almost like a sauce because you serve over rice, but you can thicken it as much as you like. If it starts to dry up a little don’t panic, just add some more water. Be sure to be tasting it as it cooks, you may want to add a little more lemon or Badia, there is salt in the Badia so if you need a little more salt add that, it will also add a lot of flavors.  Serve over rice!

Standard Disclaimer! feel free to adjust all spices! I always eyeball everything so when I wrote this down I guessed on measurements like always.  Now granted they will be pretty close but that is why you always need to TASTE AS YOU MAKE! 

Enjoy!!