Cooking Out of the Pantry Part III

Hello Day Three… For day three I thought I would invent something that has never been tasted before in the history of human kind.  I was so thrilled with my new invention that I decided to google the ingredients.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered that not only did I not invent it, it’s actually a staple in tropical island food.  (Further proof that I moved right where I belonged!) So, without further ado – here’s Grilled Chicken on a bed of brown rice with pineapple and black beans.   Here’s what I did:

6 thin sliced boneless, skinless, chicken breast

2 onions, diced

3 cups of brown rice

3 cans of Pineapple Chunks in pineapple juice (pour the pineapple juice into another container – do not discard it!)

1 28 oz. can of black beans

Olive Oil

3 hearts of romaine

1/2 red onion sliced thin

honey

apple cider vinegar

cayenne pepper

paprika

dried thyme

chili powder

salt and pepper

I used brown rice, which takes 45 minutes to cook, so I started with the rice.  Prepare according to package directions.

Heat a non stick pan on med/high heat.  Pour about a tablespoon of oil in the pan.  When it’s hot, add the onions. Allow to cook until they’re caramelized.  If they’re going too fast, lower the heat.

Drain the beans, separate the pineapples from the juice

Clean and chop the lettuce and onion, put in a large bowl.  Refrigerate until dinner.

In a jar with a screw top lid, put 1 cup of the reserved pineapple juice, 1/2 cup of cider vinegar, a large squeeze or two of honey and 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil.  Shake and set aside.

Lay the chicken out on a dish or cutting board (that you won’t be using for anything else – we all know about cross contamination, right?), sprinkle with the dried spices, salt and pepper to taste.  (remember the cayenne is hot, so use according to your taste)

Heat your grill pan to high and when it’s hot, put the chicken (spiced side down) in the pan and spice the other side.  Grill until done on one side, flip and grill till it’s done completely (check to make sure it’s not pink) and put on a plate.  Cover tightly with foil to keep it warm.

Add the pineapple and the black beans to the onion and cook until the pineapple starts to brown on the edges.  Remove from heat.

When the rice is done, add the pineapple, bean, onion mixture to the rice and stir.

On a plate, put a little salad, a nice pile of rice, and a piece of chicken on top.  Shake the dressing again and pour a little bit over the whole plate. Dig in.  It was very yummy.  The rice needed a little more salt at table and I think next time I’d use jasmine rice – but other than that, this was a big hit with the whole family.

So here’s the picture of my pantry tonight.  What’s that you say?  You notice that there’s more in there than there was yesterday?  Well.  My husband and children decided to overrule me and bought ramen.  Again, I will say that I do not condone that behavior, but you have to pick your battles right?

Also, my very supportive friends (not) pointed out that my cans were not all facing forward.  I thought I had fixed that, but looking at the picture, I see that the canned pumpkin is not facing forward.  Drats.  Foiled again.Similar Posts:

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