Red Beans and Rice

I made this with Fiesta Chicken with Avocado Salsa, and everyone LOVED it. Mom said it was the best beans & rice she had ever had. I have to say it turned out pretty darn good!! And it goes perfectly with the fiesta chicken. I couldn't find the original recipe online, and I made a few alterations. So I will post MY version.

Red Beans and Rice

From Betty Crocker Cookbook

1 cup dried kidney beans, rinsed
1 package smoked bacon
1 medium onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 cup brown rice
1 tsp salt

First I cooked rice according to package. I did not use instant, but you can use whatever rice you like. I used organic brown rice from a local farm.

In 3 quart sauce pan heat 3 cups of water to boiling then add beans. Boil uncovered for 2 minutes in salted water, reduce heat. Cover and simmer 1 hour or until tender (so not boil beans, they will fall apart) Drain beans, set aside.

In 10 in ch skillet, fry bacon and crumble. remove bacon crumbles and add diced onion and bell pepper to oil. salt to taste. Cook until onion is tender. do not drain bacon grease unless you have an excess amount. mix the bacon crumbles back in, then the rice, then the beans. Mix all gently until combined well. Serve while hot.

I know it isn't HEALTHY but I left all my bacon grease in the pan and let the rice soak it all up when I mixed it in. I think that helped the taste, because it isn't healthy but boy it tastes good. Of course it wasn't a LOT of grease- too much would just make it too greasy and that's just nasty. But a little for flavor is gooood!

Fiesta Chicken with Avocado Salsa

This is a recipe I found in my FAVORITE cookbook- the original Betty Crocker cookbook. I thought it looked good and summery and I could use some of my fresh stuff from the market in it. I made a few changes to the original, so if you want to check the original recipe you can find it HERE. Make this one- you will not be sorry. I made it and my brother, James who hates anything citrus or with onion said it was delicious and my 2 year old son and nephew ate it up. It was definitely a hit. Also this recipe calls for jalapeno, I don't like spicy and I had little guys eating it so I substituted that with some sweet peppers. And the marinade calls for Cumin, which I do not have, so I substituted Tumeric (which is REALLLLLY good for you.. google it!) a dash of paprika, and to help with the absence of jalapeno I also added a few drops of hot sauce. :-) I made this with a Red Beans and Rice recipe from the same cookbook. Mom said it was the best beans and rice she had ever had. It was SOOOO good. 

Fiesta Chicken Breast With Avocado Salsa

From: Betty Crocker Cookbook 

Tomato-avocado salsa
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 medium avocado, peeled and diced
4 medium green onions, diced. (1/4 cup)
2 T lime juice
2 sweet peppers, chopped
2 or 3 dashes of hot sauce
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/4 tsp salt


Chicken
4 bone-in chicken breast
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp tumeric
2 or 3 dashes of paprika
1/2 tsp salt
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 package flour tortillas (8 inch) cut into strips


Step 1- 
In medium bowl gently mix all salsa ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to serve. 


Step 2- 
Place chicken in shallow dish. In small bowl mix 1/4 cup lime juice, 1/4 cup oil, tumeric, paprika, and salt. Pour over chicken. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour. 


Step 3- 
Heat oven to 375, spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. 


Step 4- 
Place chicken, skin sides up, in pan. Pour marinade over chicken. Cover and bake 30 minutes. uncover and bake 30 minutes longer, brushing occasionally with marinade, until thickest part of chicken is 170F


Step 5-
In 10 inch skillet heat 2 T oil over medium-high heat until hot. Cook trotilla strips in oil until crisp and golden brown. Serve chicken topped with salsa and tortilla strips on the side. 


Now since I had fried bacon to go in my Beans & Rice- I used the bacon grease from that to fry the tortilla strips, and I used SPELT tortilla's from the organic store. They were so good Mom and I almost made ourselves sick snacking on them and Zach ate so many he didn't want to eat his chicken. It was a lot easier to fry these than I thought, I will definitely be doing it again in the future for other dishes!!