UM HI look what I made!!! Cuban chicken bowls with fried plantains and some avocado pineapple salsa. Yeah! Fried plantains 👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻!
So quick tangent. This past weekend I finally got around to spring cleaning in July and went through my closet. Overall it was very successful and I freed up a TON of space. However. Clothes were tried on, and clothes. Didn't. Fit.
WHAT?! EXCUSE me wardrobe?? Well actually let's be real. It's not my closet's fault. I literally went to Chicago and then never exercised again because being lazy is just so much fun. Also, I have been enjoying several happy hour drinks and snacks lately so this was bound to happen. But this just will NOT stand!
A plan: get my butt off the couch and get moving!!! I have restarted my bodyboss training, am going to attempt some serious vinyasa yoga, and also might rejoin the gym. We shall see (gyms are so hard).
But also, nutrition. Which brings me to these Cuban chicken bowls. Yes yes they have friend plantains but it's a teensy bit of fat balanced with some serious healthy food! All about moderation right?
So. These bowls are packed with good for you protein and TONS of flavor: chicken marinated in a mojo sauce, black beans mixed in with cilantro lime rice, and fresh avocado and pineapple salsa. Topped with a scattering of fried plantains because let's enjoy life but also fit into my fave jeans without any buttoning issues.
Yummmmmm. Honestly these Cuban chicken bowls are one of mhy favorite things I've ever made. The chicken only marinates for 30 minutes and the rest is gravy. That marinade too...mojo sauce, the ultimate and ridiculously easy combination of Cuban flavors.
I also especially love all the protein in this dish because my diet is ridiculously carb heavy, which I'm now aiming to fix!
So wish me luck on this exercise, nutrition journey and enjoy some Cuban chicken bowls!
Cuban Chicken Bowls with Fried Plantains
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: Serves 2-3 1x
Description
Protein packed, flavorful Cuban style bowls recipe with mojo sauce marinated chicken and avocado pineapple salsa!
Ingredients
For the Bowls
- 15 ounce can black beans
- 1 cup white rice
- 1 lb chicken breast
- Zest and juice of ½ lime
- ¼ cup cilantro leaves, packed and roughly chopped
- 1 ½ cups pineapple, diced
- 1 avocado, diced
- 2 tablespoons green onion, sliced
- 1 plaintain, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Vegetable oil, for frying
For the Mojo Sauce Marinade
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon oregano
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- Pinch red chili pepper flakes (optional)
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
Get Recipe Ingredients
Instructions
- Marinate and cook mojo chicken: Combine all ingredients for marinade in a large ziploc bag. Add chicken and toss to coat. Chill 30 minutes (up to 4 hours).
- Heat tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook 6-7 minutes per side, until cook through, basting with any remaining marinade in bag. Remove from heat and let rest 5 minutes. Slice into 1 inch pieces. Set aside in a warm place.
- While chicken is marinating and cooking, make the cilantro lime and black bean rice: Rinse the white rice and drain. Pour into a medium pot with 2 cups water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about 12 minutes, until rice is tender and water has been absorbed.
- Remove from heat, add lime zest, half of the cilantro, and black beans and fluff with a fork. Set aside and keep warm.
- Fry plantains: Heat enough vegetable oil in a large, high walled skillet to fill it ½ inch over medium high heat. Add plantains and fry 2-3 minutes (you should see bubbles immediately. If not, the pan isn't hot enough!). Flip the platains over and cook another 1-2 minutes, until browned. Remove from pan to a paper towel lined plate. Sprinkle with a pinch of coarse salt and set aside.
- In a small bowl, stir together avocado, pineapple, the remaining cilantro and the juice of half a lime.
- Assemble the bowls: Fill half the bowl with cilantro lime black bean rice. Top with mojo chicken, avocado pineapple salsa and fried plantains. Serve immediately.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
Mags says
Aaaaaahhhhhh it’s soo good!!!! I baked my plantains as per recommendation of the ripeness factor. They turned out amazing. I should’ve used more oil on the baking sheet as some of the plantains were baked/burned onto the baking sheet when I went to flip them halfway through the 20 min bake. I just scraped the crispy pieces of plantain right into my bowl and it was an added crunch that I like! This recipe is highly recommended! I will admit I cheated on the rice and used a bag of vigos red beans and rice instead of making the rice and beans from scratch 🤷🏼♀️
Heather Jillene says
This was delicious 🙂 loved the plantains!
Allan says
When do you add the green onions?🤷♂️
Shayna says
Pretty great! Easy and fast too.
Definitely double the marinade though. After cooking the chicken, deglaze the pan with white wine or broth and dump all the marinade back in the pan and add some sour cream. Add more broth if you need and simmer until thickened. Dump it on top of the chicken and rice to give the rice more flavor! It was too bland without something else for us. But absolutely delicious with extra sauce!! Thank you!
Michelle O’Flynn says
Yeah I couldn’t see where the white wine or the green onions are used in this recipe. So I sautéed the onions with the chicken... drank the white wine ... deglazed pan with rum,😜
Meghan says
So where do the green onions come in? I didn’t see any thing about them in the recipe .