Caribbean chicken + red beans & rice

 Caribbean Chicken recipe

This recipe came from the cooks Master of the Grill book (pg 20). No changes, delicious as is!

For the amount of red beans & rice that comes out of the next recipe, recommend doubling the chicken to be proportional. Harder to cut the rice in half since we're using whole cans of coconut milk & beans.

Ingredients

• 1.5 lb chicken thighs (halved)
• 2-3 TBSP olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves minced (pressed)
• 1/4 cup minced parsley
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt

Directions

1. Mix Olive Oil, parsley, spices and salt together in a big dish with a lid.
2. Add in the chicken and mix until coated. Marinate for 3-24 hours.
3. Remove from marinade and grill.

Red beans & rice recipe

https://www.africanbites.com/caribbean-rice-and-beans

We made some alterations made to the recipe so noting below what we would do next time. This makes A LOT of red beans & rice so we've cut down the rice slightly and the liquid accordingly since we'd like a higher ratio of beans to rice. Added salt since we are omitting bouillon. 

Ingredients

• 1-2TB vegetable oil (or canola)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ medium onion, diced
• 1 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
• 1.5 cups uncooked long grain rice
• 1 sprig fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried) (we didn't have this and omitted but if I had it I would add it)
• 1 13.5-ounce can coconut milk (about 1¾ cups)
• 1 15.5-ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup chicken broth or water (we did half/half)

Instructions

• Wash rice until water runs clear. Drain water.
• Heat a saucepan with oil. Then add onions and sauté for a few minutes until softened. Add garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant. 
• Stir in rice to the pot, followed by beans, and cook for about 2 minutes. Then add coconut milk, bay leaf, salt, and cajun seasoning with 1 cup of broth/water, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover with a lid, and simmer until rice is cooked, about 20 minutes (more or less). Stir occasionally from the sides to prevent burning. Add more water as needed.
• Discard bay leaves before serving. 
• Serve warm.

dal side veg

 I've started liking to make two side dishes with dal.

 cumin potato

Cube 1 large potato and boil it for 10-15 min in water with 1 tsp salt.

Add 1 Tbsp ghee or oil and 1 tsp cumin seeds to pan over medium high heat + 1 tsp mustard seeds.  Wait for mustard to pop.  Toss potato in spiced oil.

Optional:  toasted slivers of almond, etc.

Green bean poorial

Goodly amount of green beans cut into 1" lengths.

1 Tbsp ghee or oil with 1 tsp mustard seed and a few Tbsp of urud dal (for crunch and nutty flavor).  Toss green beans in there ... add 1 Tbsp or two of water to let the green beans steam.  Add in 1-2 Tbsp grated fresh coconut.  A few dried red chilies at the beginning might be good.