Moros y Cristianos Recipe (With Mojo Chicken)(Moros y Cristianos Con Pollo al Mojo)

Moros y Cristianos Recipe (With Mojo Chicken)(Moros y Cristianos Con Pollo al Mojo)

Bring a taste of Cuba to your household with this delicious pork free version of moros y cristianos (black beans and ric), made using nutritionally dense brown rice instead of white rice and fresh black beans to yield that signature dark coloured rice. Paired with some oven baked mojo chicken to make a complete meal.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Cuban

Prep Time 50

Cook Time 1 10

Total Time 2

Servings people

Calories 499kcal

Author Charla

Ingredients

To marinate the chicken

4-6 large chicken thighs washed and dried
5 tablespoon sazon seasoning (40g)
1¼ cup mojo marinade (295ml)

To make the moros y cristianos

2 tablespoon olive oil (28g)
1 large onion chopped
4 garlic cloves minced
1 green bell pepper chopped
2 tablespoon sazon seasoning (16g)
1 teaspoon cumin (2g)
1 tablespoon oregano (5g)
2 bay leaves
1½ cup black beans cooked (15oz/400g of canned beans in water)
1½ cups brown rice (285mg) (I'm using Basmati rice)
3 cups water (710ml)
black pepper and pink salt to taste

Instructions

To marinate the chicken

Place the chicken in a large bowl and proceed to season the chicken thighs with the sazon seasoning.
Pour the mojo marinade over the chicken (baste it a few times) and cover with plastic wrap and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for up to 2 hours.
Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and uncover it.
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.

To cook the mojo chicken

Remove the chicken from the bowl, scrap off and excess garlic/onions (reserve the marinade) and transfer it into a large oven proof dish.
Oven bake the chicken until golden brown until it becomes golden brown (this should take about 30 minutes).
As soon as it is browned pour the reserved marinade into the bowl with the chicken and continue to bake for another 15 minutes, basting the chicken occasionally.
Once the chicken has baked, set it aside and reserve the excess liquid to use when serving.

To make the moros y cristianos

While the chicken is being baked, make your moros.
Preheat a large deep non stick frying pan or skillet with olive oil.
Saute the onion, garlic and green pepper until they are soft and transculent.
Add the seasoning - sazon, cumin, oregano, black pepper, pink salt and bay leaves.
Pour in the black beans, brown rice and the water then stir.
Bring the pan to a rolling boil.
Cover with a lid then reduce to simmer on medium-low heat for up to an hour. Keep an eye on the liquid levels, the amount stated should be enough, but you may need to add more (do this ¼ cup at a time) if you reach almost an hour and rice isn't soft enough.10 minutes before the cooking time is over.
Do a taste test and add more pink salt and black pepper, if required.
Place the baked chicken on top of the rice, cover and leave to heat through for the remaining 10 minutes.
Serve accordingly, discard the bay leaves and drizzle the rice and chicken with any leftover liquid.

Notes

Don't over saturate the rice as it will result in being a sticky mess.
This link entitled "How to Fix Rice" should assist you, should you experience any problems with slightly over saturated rice.
This recipe and the liquid ratio is strictly for BROWN BASMATIC RICE ONLY NOT WHITE RICE.
The colour of the rice will vary from light brown to a deeper hue, depending on whether or not you used dried or canned beans.
This is the link to the Mojo Marinade and Sazon Seasoning that you will need.
For best results, I highly recommend using dried black beans that have been soaked and cooked ahead of time with the water from the beans.
If you are using canned black beans, make sure it is water NOT SALT WATER!! and don't throw away the bean water, use it to make up 3 cups worth of water.
Any leftovers can be refrigerated for no more than 24 hours or alternatively freeze both the chicken and the rice for up to 3 months.
If you struggle to digest brown rice then it is best to soak the brown rice in lime juice overnight to help ease digestion.
For an authentic dark hue, use dried beans instead of canned beans.

Nutrition