Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Black Bean and Mango Chicken Salad

Source: adapted from here (after a quick google search for mango + chicken + balsamic + orange juice recipes - see notes for story there!)


Ingredients:
1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, grilled and cut (I used one, just sprinkled it generously with salt and pepper and quickly grilled it ~5-7 minutes on each side)
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
~ 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 ripe mango, chopped (for a cool "tutorial" on how to do this, check out this site)
1/2 cup (about 1/2 of a medium-sized one) green pepper, chopped
1/3 cup sweet onion (I may have used less - I'm not a huge raw onion fan)
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup lime juice (I just used the juice of one lime, which was less than 1/4 cup, but it was fine)
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar (I only did about half that)
1 Tablespoon honey
2 Tablespoons preserves (the recipe suggests pineapple or mango or orange marmalade, but I only had store-brand strawberry spread in the fridge and it was great)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder (I used one minced clove of garlic)
1/2 Tablepsoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon black pepper (I skimped on this - used maybe 1/4 teaspoon?)
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper flakes
salt, to taste
tortilla chips

Directions:
Mix the chicken, beans, corn, mango, pepper, onion and cilantro in a medium-sized mixing bowl.  Whisk together the rest of the ingredients into a dressing and pour over the ingredients in the bowl.  Chill and serve with tortilla chips.

Notes:
I bought my first ever mango (they were on sale this week) with the intent to make a balsamic-glazed grilled chicken with mango recipe that I found about a month ago.  When I got home I realized I didn't buy the mango nectar that that recipe called for, and thus began the search for something to substitute.  I had orange juice in the fridge and wondered if that would be an acceptable substitute for the mango nectar, so I added it to my google search.  What I found first was this delightful recipe that totally piqued my interest.  No pictures on the site, which almost turned me off because I really love to see a picture of what I'm going to make.  But I'm glad I didn't let that deter me.  This was yummy!  Very fresh and cool and summery.  It reminds me a lot of Cowboy Caviar, though obviously not exactly the same.  I'm a fan.  And I'm totally sold on mangos - talk about yum!  I hope they stay on sale!  :)

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