When my beau spotted some jerk chicken at the store, he suggested we build a bowl night around it, so that’s just what I did last night. I used pre-marinated jerk chicken (boneless skinless breasts) but you can also make your own. (Honestly, I’d recommend making your own – check here for a full chicken recipe, here for a marinade, or here for a spice blend.) I took some major help from the store here and used non-traditional toppings so this is definitely an “inspired by” recipe. Not authentic, but still tasty.
Start your rice in the rice cooker and get your marinated chicken in the oven at the same time. After about 30 minutes, that will all be done, which gives you plenty of time to get the rest of your fixins ready. I served with a can of black beans (rinsed and drained), shredded carrots (that I had leftover and needed to use up), cilantro lime sauce (light sour cream + bit of mayo + large handful chopped cilantro + lime), and plantain chips. I also served with some sweet potato habanero hot sauce. Since habanero is common in jerk marinade, I thought this was the perfect complement. I also like the touch of sweetness this adds. You could also include cubed, roasted sweet potatoes in this bowl – I’m just not huuuge on sweet potatoes so I left that out. Sautéd/simmered greens would also be great but I didn’t have any on hand.
The plantain chips were a really nice salty crunch and made me realize I should definitely be using those as a salad topping in the future. I also really liked the addition of the cilantro sauce, which is definitely more of a taco night condiment, but it worked well here. Basically, you should think of this less like an authentic jerk meal and more like a meal made with jerk chicken. The ingredients all worked nicely together and we had ourselves a successful bowl night that will likely be replicated in the future.
Peaches to Apples 