Ancho Chilli Chicken with Spanish Brown Rice and Black Beans

If you're thinking, this dish doesn't have anything to do with pasta OR mushrooms ... well, you are correct.

Pasta and mushrooms are two of my favorite foods among MANY which will be featured here. This blog celebrates my personal passion for food and cooking, and my delight in sharing that passion with others. "Pasta and Mushrooms" came about because as I am beginning this blog, I'm less than 2 weeks away from my wedding date! Can you believe it? (I think this project is a welcome distraction from otherwise getting too jittery). My fiance, David, equally shares in my love for pasta and mushrooms and so our wedding cocktail hour and dinner will include a pasta station, wild mushroom station and portabello mushroom appetizer ... you get the point! So the name feels fitting. Certainly, foods of all sorts will be featured here.

I've actually been meaning to start this blog for some time now, being I've got time on my hands (I was laid off from a corporate job over the summer). Over-thinking this blog kept it from happening. I was racking my brain for the perfect title, one that was unique among all food blogs (no easy task as there are many), etc. Finally, I decided I just want, and need, an outlet for my cooking passion and so today I simply dove right in, not getting too caught up in the details. So please excuse the rather amateur photography, perhaps it will improve over time!

This recipe came from a Cuisine at Home cookbook. Cuisine at Home is a Midwestern-based cooking magazine, one my favorites (and I subscribe to MANY, or too many I should say - you can ask David). This dinner came together in the time it took to cook the rice - under an hour - so it's a great weeknight meal full of fun Mexican flavors.

Ancho Chili Chicken with Spanish Brown Rice and Black Beans

Ingredients:
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 ancho chillis, stemmed, seeded, chopped
1 1/4 cup onion, minced
1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes (I like Mur Glen for this)
3 garlic cloves, 2 smashed, 1 minced
1 cup brown rice
1 tsp tumeric
1 cup chicken broth
1 can black beans, drained, rinsed
2 limes
Feta cheese, crumbled (optional)
Avacado, diced (optinal)

1. Saute1/4 cup minced onion and 1 minced garlic clove. Add 1 tsp tumeric. Add 1 cup brown rice, bring to boil, cover, reduce heat to low, simmer 50 minutes or until rice is tender.

2. Meanwhile, mix together oregano, cumin and pepper and season chicken (pounded 1/2" or so thin, patted dry) with it. Heat 2 Tbs oil in large saute pan and sear chicken 2 minutes per side, until nicely browned. Set aside on plate.

3. Toast chiles in 1 Tbs oil in same pan over medium heat, 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, 1/2 cup onion, and garlic cloves. Simmer 3 minutes. Stir in broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and return chicken to pan. Cover and cook until chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove chicken to plate. Puree tomato mixture in food processor and season w salt.

4. Saute remaining onion with 1 minced garlic clove in 1 Tbs oil in small saucepan, 2 minutes, Add beans and heat through. Season w salt and lime juice.

5. Serve w crumbled feta (you could use queso fresco) and avacado (if desired).