Southwest Chicken with Black Bean and Corn Relish

This is an original dish that I derived from my famous salsa recipe.  I have a black bean and corn salsa recipe that makes my family just crazy happy.  I adapted the salsa to make a relish topping for chicken that is freezer friendly.  I removed the tomatoes because those do not survive the freezing and thawing without turning to mush.  Instead I created an easy marinade out of cumin and tomato sauce.  These chicken breasts can be baked or grilled depending on the weather and your family's preference. 

Ingredients:

5.25 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts    10.45
2 Tbsp cumin                                                         .50
15 oz tomato sauce (smaller than pictured)           .74
15 oz can black beans                                            .68
15 oz can sweet corn                                              .68
1 green pepper                                                        .74
1 medium yellow onion                                          .21
3 limes                                                                    .90
1/2 cup cilantro                                                       .74
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Directions:

My family pack of chicken breasts contained 6 large breasts.  I placed three breasts into two gallon freezer bags. 

Sprinkle 1 Tbsp of cumin into each bag and pour in 1 cup of tomato sauce.  Seal bags and mush around to evenly distribute the cumin.  Set aside.

Now drain and rinse the black beans.  Pour into a medium mixing bowl.  Drain the canned corn and add to your mixing bowl.  Chop the onion and green pepper.  The green pepper will get a little soft during the freezing and thawing process so cut your pieces a little big so they have a good crunch.

Add your onions and green pepper to the mixing bowl with the corn and black beans.  Add 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro, 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1tsp salt and 1 tsp white sugar.  Squeeze in the juice of all three limes and stir well.

This will be the topping to your chicken.  This relish will not be cooked.  Separate the relish into two sandwich bags and seal.

Take one bag of chicken and one bag of relish and place together in a separate gallon freezer bag and label.

Place one in the fridge to make for dinner.  Placed the other in the freezer for a later meal.  When you are ready to prepare please thaw the frozen one in the fridge for two days. 

Take the chicken out of the bag of cumin and tomato sauce and shake off excess marinade.  Place the breasts in a pan to bake at 350 for 30 minutes or grill over medium heat for 8 minutes a side.

Once the breasts are fully cooked top each one with a generous scoop of the relish.  The relish should not be cooked or warmed.  I like to serve mine with a side of wild rice.  If you would like to mix it up a little more you can slice the chicken breasts after baking/grilling and place in a flour tortilla and top with the black bean and corn relish for a new twist on a chicken taco. 

I was able to make two meals for $7.84.  My husband loves this dish!  I hope you like it too.  The lime juice makes it tangy, and the corn makes it sweet.  It's like a summer salad on top of a tasty grilled chicken breast.

Enjoy!
Christie aka Keeza