Red Chile Chicken & Rice with Black Beans

I owe this recipe a lot. This recipe is the reason I found this amazing homemade salsa. And well, for that alone, I'm in love with this red chile chicken and rice with black beans.

But as it turns out, it's really quite awesome on its own. With 2.5 tablespoons of ancho chile powder, I'm sure you can guess that this dish certainly does not lack flavor. And it doesn't. But while that may seem like a lot of chile powder, it's not too much, either. Since Mexican flavors are some of our favorites, this is yet another meal to add to our regular rotation.

Topped with the amazing homemade salsa, this is a meal to be reckoned with.

When making this, we had a few challenges with the rice. Mainly, it took longer to cook than Annie states, but that might be because I didn't stir-fry it enough in the beginning. Make sure not to undercook it at that stage. Also, we found that to help the rice along, we had to add more chicken broth to the pan so that the rice had more liquid. The rice ended up absorbing all of the extra, and in the end, it came out well. I just wanted to make note of that in case any of you guys run into the same issue!

Red Chile Chicken & Rice with Black Beans
(Source: Annie's Eats)

Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp. canola oil
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied into halves (4 halves total) -- I used approximately 1 lb. of chicken breasts, cut into small chunks
- 2.5 tbsp. ancho chile powder, divided
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 cup long-grain rice
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/4 cup green onions, chopped (or 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro)
- 1/2 - 1 cup salsa, for serving

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Season both sides of the chicken breast halves with salt and sprinkle with half of the chili powder. (If you've cut the chicken into pieces like I did, simply sprinkle/rub the salt and chile powder onto the chicken pieces.) Place the chicken in the hot oil and brown on each side, 2-3 minutes. Remove to a plate, leaving behind as much oil as possible.

2. Add the onion and rice to the pot. Stir for several minutes, until the rice turns from translucent to opaque. Add the garlic and the remaining chili powder to the pot. Cook for 1 minute, stirring, then add the chicken broth and salt to taste. Stir well. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer on medium-low heat. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.

3. Cut the chicken breasts into 1-inch pieces (if you didn't do it before) and add them to the pot, along with the beans. Re-cover the pot and allow to cook 12 minutes longer.

4. Sprinkle the green onions on top of the chicken, beans and rice. Test a grain of rice – it should have no more than a hint of chalkiness at the center. If the rice has the correct texture, replace the cover, remove the pot from the heat and let stand 5-10 minutes. If the rice is not completely cooked yet, cook for 5 minutes longer before covering to let stand.

5. Fluff the mixture with a fork and serve with salsa.