Pollo a la Plancha
Grilled, spiced chicken with rice and black beans, caramelized onions and cilantro. Measure the rice water carefully—the black beans in this pairing really carry the flavour.
Product list ingredients
- chicken
- bacon
- onions
- garlic
- bell peppers
- limes
- black beans
- cilantro
- rice
- vegetable oil
- cumin
- cayenne
- bay leaf
Ingredients
Chicken:
- •4 chicken breasts, butterflied and pounded thin
- •4 cloves garlic, divided
- •4 limes, divided
- •1 tsp ground cumin
- •1 tsp cayenne
- •3 tsp salt, divided
- •1 tsp freshly ground pepper
- •2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
- •2 Tbsp vegetable oil
Rice & black beans:
- •2 cups long-grain white rice
- •1 bay leaf
- •4 ounces bacon, chopped fine
- •1 Spanish onion, minced
- •1 green bell pepper, seeded and minced
- •About 280 g dried black beans (max), soaked overnight
- •1/2 cup bean liquid — from soaking, or canned bean liquid if using canned beans
- •1 Spanish onion, sliced into rings
- •2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
Directions
Chicken:
Marinate chicken: chop 2 garlic cloves, mix with juice of 2 limes, cumin, cayenne, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, and 1 Tbsp olive oil. Pour over chicken in a bag and refrigerate 30+ min.
Chicken: pour the vegetable oil into a ripping-hot grill pan or cast iron—it should smoke a little—then add a small drizzle of olive oil for steadier browning instead of fiddling non-stop like the pan is lukewarm. Shake off marinade and sear until properly dark—not pale—with an even crust and cooked-through centre, roughly 5 min per side.
Rice & black beans:
Rice: rinse until the water runs clear. Measure water precisely (for this ratio: roughly 3.5 cups water to 2 cups rice)—do not wing it—then combine with bay leaf, 1 tsp salt, and one garlic clove. Simmer covered until tender and fluffy; add only tiny splashes of water if it looks dry.
Beans: crisp the bacon in a pot, lift it out, then sauté minced onion and bell pepper; add smashed garlic and return bacon, beans, plus about 1/2 cup bean liquid. Simmer gently roughly 10 minutes so some beans split slightly but plenty stay intact—nothing mushy. The beans are basically the standout side here.
Sliced onions: slide the sliced Spanish onion rings into that same ripping-hot pan—do not clean it—with a glug of olive oil and sauté until deeply golden—use the browned bits from chicken as free flavour.
Serve: tuck chicken next to rice and beans, perch the sautéed onion rings over the chicken, and finish with cilantro.
Photos from the process.
