Tally me banana and call me a Jamaican accountant, because this meal was money (Note: Author firmly believes Guy Fieri is pretty much a tool). I've made jerk chicken before, but this was definitely the best incarnation of it I've ever accomplished. It was spicy, rich, savory, sweet and absolutely delicious.
Those side dishes rocked, too. My husband and I almost had to thumb wrestle over the last couple bites of the black bean mash.
Also, the drink in the photo is a white peach sangria, but we'll go over that a little later.
For now, let us take an in-depth look at some of the nutritional merit of this dish.
Mangoes are brimming with Vitamin A, Vitamin C and B6, as well as several minerals and (of course) fiber. Whenever you see a piece of produce that is orange in color, you can assume it has a high carotenoid content, and unlike many good-for-you compounds that can be beneficial when consumed in a dietary supplement, carotenoids may actually be harmful in such a form. The solution? Eat more dark leafy greens and orange-colored produce.
Black beans, and beans in general, are probably something you should be eating more of. They are loaded with Thiamine (B1), Folate (B9), tons of minerals, fiber and protein.
Habenero, in addition to being one of the spiciest things on the planet, is an incredibly powerful anti-inflammatory. Other health benefits linked to regular consumption of spicy peppers include lower blood pressure, cancer prevention and lifted mood (capsaicin is an irritant that triggers the production of endorphines).
Enough of the appetizer, let's break into the main course. This recipe will make two plates:
1 large chicken breast
1/2 cup (or so) jerk marinade (Mine had 5 cloves of garlic, 1 whole shallot, 1 tsp. of red wine vinegar, 1 lime's juice, 1 Tbsp. soy sauce, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. allspice, 1 tsp. ground thyme, 1/2 tsp. fresh grated nutmeg, 1 tsp. lavender, 1 tsp. ground coriander, 2 Tbsp. dark brown sugar, 1/2 tsp. of fresh black pepper, 1 tsp. sea salt, 1 Tbsp. olive oil, 3/4 of a charred habenero pepper)
1 can of reduced sodium black beans (this will help you control how salty they are)
1 mango
The remaining 1/4 of the charred habenero
1 clove of garlic
1/6 of a red onion
2 whole peeled tomatoes
1 Tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil
A few handfuls of your favorite mexican restaurant's tortilla chips (I hate oversalted store-bought chips)
To taste salt, fresh cracked black pepper, hot sauce, coriander, whatever you'd like
Let's get cooking.
Before we begin, I need to make something crystal clear. Habenero peppers are extremely spicy and will burn your skin and eyes intensely if they come in to contact with either. I don't care what kind of Billy badass you think you are, wear latex gloves at all times when handling these things and wipe every surface they touch with an alcohol-based wipe or you will regret it.
I have no idea if fire roasting this pepper helped with its heat, but it made it softer and easier to mince, so I recommend doing it. Just hold it with some metal tongs over your stove burner for a few minutes, charring the skin until it feels soft. If you have an electric stove, you can do this in the oven.
Combine the ingredients for the jerk marinade in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add that stuff to a plastic resealable bag with your chicken and close it up. I let my chicken marinate for about 4 hours, you can probably go longer, but I wouldn't go more than about 12 hours. There's a lot of acid in that marinade and it could start to cook the chicken and make it tough.
To make the mango salsa, peel the mango and slice off its "cheeks", then dice it. Seed and chop the tomatoes, as well. Mince that red onion (really get after it, almost paste the thing), and add a 1/4 of it to your salsa, reserving the rest for the beans. Next, add the reserved 1/4 of the habenero. You can add some lime juice too, if you'd like (I did). Salt and pepper appropriately, stir to combine.
The beans are very simple. Drain and rinse your beans in a collander. Sautee the garlic clove (mince that) and the minced red onion in a little olive oil over medium low heat. Add your beans, stir, heat them through, should take a couple minutes. After that, remove them to a large bowl and either mash them with a fork or a potato masher, or do as I did and puree them with a hand blender. Season appropriately, I added some hot sauce for tang and heat.
When you're searing that chicken off, I'd recommend using a non-stick pan. As much as I love my cast iron skillet, that marinade is full of sugar and being that I came very close to overcaramelizing it even on a non-stick pan, I can't imagine what my cast iron skillet would have done to it or the nightmare it would have been to clean it afterwards.
When it's cooled, chop the chicken and plate it with the beans and the salsa. Garnish with a handful of tortilla chips and as far as eating it goes...assemble and devour as you please. No forks allowed.
Enjoy! Do come back.
...Oh, you wanted that sangria recipe?
1/4 cup orange pineapple juice
1 cup white wine (I had Moscato)
1 white (Saturn) peach, sliced and frozen in a little bit of OJ
Mmm, sangria.
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