This recipe is slightly adapted from a great one my friend Lauren sent me. For some gender-bending reason Lauren chose the name "Lorenzo" for herself in high school Spanish, hence the name of this recipe. Gracias, Lorenzo!
Lorenzo's Burrito Bowl is great for a healthy and tasty Mexican dinner. It takes less time to make this than it does to go pick up a burrito bowl from Chipotle, and it tastes just as good! *
* FALSE. Nothing tastes as good as Chipotle. But it is delicious, inexpensive, and will save you hundreds of calories. Ole!
- 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (thank goodness you bought that giant bag of frozen chicken, right?)
- 1 cup Kroger Tequila Lime marinade (or similar substitute)
- 1/2 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 servings of instant brown rice, usually one cup of rice and one cup of water, prepared according to directions on box (if you can't follow those, stop reading this blog, cause you are hopeless)
- 1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese
- Fresh cilantro to garnish if you are a bad ass like I am and have a windowsill herb garden. If not, don't worry about it!
Also feel free to add any other ingredients you like in a burrito bowl. As you will learn, I DESPISE PEPPERS and you will NEVER find them in my recipes! But you may enjoy them in this one.
Directions:
Dice up your chicken breast into bite-sized cubes about 1 in. X 1 in. Keep 'em about the same size so they cook evenly!
Put the chicken cubes into a Ziploc bag with 3/4 cup of your Tequila Lime marinade. Stick it in the fridge for 30 mins (longer if you'd like).
Pound some tequila shots while you wait.
Prepare brown rice according to directions on the box. I usually do the microwaveable instant brown rice, which only takes about 7 minutes to make. Perfect to do right before you move on to the next step!
Heat a sautee pan to medium-high heat and pour in contents of Ziploc bag. Sizzlin'!
Stir occasionally until chicken is all the way cooked through. Since it's in little cubes, it will only take a few minutes-- this is a great time-saving technique!
You will know it's ready when it is completely white and firm when you poke it (that's what she said?). If you are particularly opposed to salmonella, you can always cut open the thickest cube and make sure there is no pink left.
Add your drained, rinsed 1/2 can of black beans as well as the remaining 1/4 cup of marinade. Let it simmer with the chicken until the beans are warmed through and the sauce is slightly thickened. This should only take a minute or two!
Put your brown rice in a bowl and pour chicken, bean, and sauce mixture over the top. Sprinkle with the Mexican cheese, garnish with the cilantro, and you are all done. Arriba!
Delicious, fast, easy, cheap, and healthy. How's that for a first recipe?
I have an awesome addition to this recipe that makes it fantastic as well. Highly recommended, check it out:
ReplyDeleteFirst, substitute brown rice for Vigo Yellow Rice: http://store.cubanfoodguy.com/product_info.php?products_id=258. The vigo is still healthier than your average white, but is generally more moist than brown rice. (Optional addition: After you boil the water, pour in your rice, a little olive oil and red wine - totally awesome).
Second, when you combine the chicken and rice into the pan, also add some salsa. You can add different flavored salsa based on your taste preferences, but I prefer just a standard, cheap medium-heat salsa. Then, after adding the salsa, mix the rice in as well to help the entire dish get the joy of salsa.
While the original is still fantastic, this can be a fun mix up if you want to throw a curveball every once in a while.
--Sky