Super simple chicken and black bean tacos
This past week, The Ontarion welcomed three new staff members to our team – News Editor, Alyssa Ottema, Sports and Health Editor, Stephanie Coratti, and Arts and Culture Editor, Adrien Potvin. On our final day of orientation, we held a welcome lunch featuring a slow cooker recipe – chicken and black bean tacos – and were they ever delicious.
This is a simple recipe that called for eight main ingredients: chicken, black beans, salsa, cilantro, garlic, onion, taco seasoning, and jalapeno. First, I took out my slow-cooker, rinsed a can of black beans, and added them in. Then, I heated up a large frying pan drizzled with olive oil, and sprinkled the chicken breast with cayenne pepper and lightly searing both sides. Once outer layer of the chicken was sealed to retain its juices, I laid the chicken over top the black beans. Next, I added about a cup and a half of fresh salsa (featuring corn) into the mix. Next, I chopped half a white onion and added it with two cloves of minced garlic and a chopped jalapeno (with seeds). Then, a couple of tablespoons of fresh chopped cilantro and a package of organic taco seasoning were added for extra seasoning. The only thing left to do was stir the ingredients together and allow the deliciousness of the flavours to come together for the next few hours on low.
After being teased with the aroma of the taco mixture for hours it was time to remove the chicken breast, which by this point was extremely tender. Then, it was time to shred the chicken. I took out a cutting board and a knife and as I held the chicken breast with a pair of tongs, I slowly pulled the meat apart. After all breasts were shredded, I put the chicken back in the slow-cooker to allow it to soak up the salsa and black bean melody. I allowed this mixture to work its magic in the slow-cooker on low for another hour before removing it, placing it in a glass dish with a fitted lid and put it in the fridge. If I were going to serve this dish the same day that I made it, I would have left it in the slow-cooker on warm until serving time, but this was made the evening in advance in order for it to be ready to serve at lunch to the staff.
In the morning, I placed the mixture back in the slow-cooker and heated on warm from 6:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. when we were able to share in a nice meal together.
The taco mixture was served in fresh corn tortillas, corn and wheat mixture tortillas, and hard corn taco shells, with lime, fresh cilantro, salsa, grated cheddar cheese, homemade guacamole, and sliced jalapenos.
This is a recipe I would recommend to anyone who is cooking for a group, or wants to have leftovers. It was a simple process with a fantastic end result. It proves that tasty food can be easy to prepare!
Shopping list for taco mixture:
- Chicken breast
- 1 medium onion
- Fresh garlic
- 1 jalapeno
- Fresh cilantro
- Salsa
- 1 can of black beans
- 1 package organic taco seasoning