Yummy Chicken and Beans

Awhile ago I came up with a combination of flavors that our family eats right up! I love it for so many reasons, its easy, its versatile, and I usually have all the ingredients in my kitchen. I use the base of chicken and beans (and a bunch of other yummy stuff) as filling for burritos, mixed with noodles, or served over rice.

You'll need:

3-4 chicken breasts

1 Tbsp cumin

1/2 Tbsp chili powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

2 squirts lime juice

salt and pepper

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed

1 can corn, drained

1 cup salsa (we use medium)

4-8 oz cream cheese

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (you could use monterey jack, cheddar is just what I always have on hand)

Step 1: Cook your chicken breast. I always place mine directly on the stove top, on medium/medium-low heat, from the freezer and let it cook in a large, covered fry pan adding water and turning as needed to prevent scorching. As the chicken cooks I break it into bite size pieces with my spatula and add the seasoning. I'm sure you could use chicken taco seasoning mix (or regular taco seasoning mix- just be sure to add the lime juice) and my measurements are my best guess, I just dump as I go.

Step 2: Add beans, corn, and salsa. Heat through. Add cream cheese. The amount varies based on how much chicken I've used. If I use 4 large breasts I use closer to a full 8 oz, if they are smaller I use less. Really, you can't go wrong adding cream cheese.

Step 3: Once the cream cheese if thoroughly mixed in, stir in cheddar and let fully melt.
Step 4: This one depends on how you want to serve it. My kids eat this up like crazy when we serve it with noodles. We call it Mexican Mac and Cheese. You can use macaroni, penne, rotini, whatever really. Just cook the noodles according to package directions, drain and mix with chicken and beans.

Serving it over rice is basically the same, just cook your rice and serve together (I don't mix them up, generally-the kids eat it better this way).

Burritos are my personal favorite way to eat this. I will usually heat up my pancake griddle to about 300-350 so I can do several at a time. Using burrito size tortillas (if you need to, heat them up in the microwave for a few seconds before filling to prevent tearing), place a deck of cards size portion of chicken and beans on tortilla, keeping the filling in an oblong shape. Fold in the sides of the tortilla with the short side filling, then wrap the long sides around. Spray one side of your burrito with canola cooking spray and place on hot griddle. Spray other side of burrito once its on griddle. Cook until first side is golden then flip over and cook until side two is golden. I love doing burritos this way because I get the crispy goodness of frying without the fat! Love it!