Chipotle Marinated Chicken with Black Bean Salsa

I love it when we can actually get our act together and marinade something longer than 20 minutes. The result is always worth the wait! If you haven't noticed, I definitely have developed a new special spot in my heart (and blog!) for canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (tends to be found with the mexican food).  I'm telling you, these chiles are so darn delicious and somehow very 'authentic' tasting. A chipotle chile is a smoked, ripe, jalapeno pepper. They're pretty spicy so you may want to taste the sauce first before loading it in to your food. This particular dish can be made with either pork or chicken. The black bean accompaniment is pretty tasty! Enjoy and ...   bon appétit!


Ingredients
For The Pork/chicken
1 canned chipotle chile, in adobo sauce
3 garlic cloves
1/2 cup coarsely chopped white onion
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat

For The Salsa
1 can (19 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup finely chopped white onion
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons minced canned chipotle chile, in adobo sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
pinch of vinegar

Directions
1. Make the meat marinade: Process chile, garlic, onion, lime juice, vinegar, and oregano in a blender until smooth. Rub marinade all over the pork/chicken. Transfer to a dish, and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat a grill pan over high heat. Grill meat until seared on all sides, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer pan to the oven; cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center of meat registers 145 degrees, 20 to 25 minutes. Let pork stand at room temperature 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.

3. Meanwhile, make the salsa: Stir together the black beans, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, lime juice, chile, and cumin in a small bowl. Serve with the yummy meat! Enjoy :)

- recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Chipotle Chicken Tacos with Fresh Guacamole

This is a recipe for chicken tacos spiced up with chipotle peppers and topped with a cool guacamole sauce. Again, really, really yummy. A good idea if you happen to end up with left over chicken from another meal. We BBQ'ed our chicken before hand so it had some of that great smokey flavour as well. ENJOY! And, as always ... Bon appétit :)


Ingredients (6 servings)
1 yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 chipotle chiles in Adobo, seeds scraped out, minced, plus 1 tablespoon of the Sauce
3 cups cooked chicken, rough chopped
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon chile powder
1/2 teaspoon salt & fresh black pepper
1/4 cup water
Tortillas/shells
Your choice of fixin's: sour cream, cheese, diced lettuce, tomato, onion, salsa, lime wedges, salsa etc.

Guacamole:
2 avocadoes, halved, pitted, flesh removed
2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
1-2 crushed pieces of garlic

1/2 cup tomato, diced
1/3 cup yellow onion, finely diced
2 teaspoon fresh cilantro, finely chopped
Salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Saute the onion in oil until translucent, add garlic and saute until fragrant, add chipotles and saute for a minute or two.

2. Add chicken, oregano, chile powder, salt, pepper, and water. Mix well and heat over medium-low heat about 8 - 10 minutes, stirring often.  You may have to play around with the spices until you get it right... sorry, those are approximations on the spices!

3. Serve in heated tortillas with fixin's.