Featured Recipe

When the folks at Florida Citrus sent me this recipe, I knew I had to try it out! I love latin flavours, and the black bean salsa with tropical fruits sounded amazing, too. I had a feeling it would be a hit with my family, and I sure wasn’t disappointed.

The recipe itself was a breeze to make – you just make up the marinade in advance and leave the chicken in it for 20-40 minutes. I always use a plastic zip-top bag for marinating because the meat is in contact with the marinade the whole time on both sides (in other words, you don’t have to turn it to marinate both sides evenly).

While the chicken is marinating, prepare the grapefruit salsa. Now, I am somewhat ashamed to admit that this is the first time I ever bought a papaya! I’ve eaten them loads of times and love them, but I’ve never bought and prepared one myself before. Anyway, it was pretty straightforward (and delicious!) and the rest of it was very simple to put together, and I even had time left over to get the barbecue pre-heated because it took less than 10 minutes to prepare the salsa.

I grilled the chicken on the barbecue (yes, I do barbecue often in the winter) and then it was super easy to put together a great meal. I served the chicken as recommended on a leaf of lettuce, and I chose to accompany it with a side of brown rice.

The family? They LOVED this one! My husband is always a great audience for new recipes – he will try anything and he usually likes it. Perfect! My kids though? Not so much. Now, that’s not to say that they’re fussy eaters: far from it. But they are kids, and that means that new recipes are never guaranteed. They really, really liked this one though. They both always like chicken, so that was pretty much a given, but the Florida grapefruit salsa was definitely their favourite part. It’s not too hot (although it is spicy – cut back on the cayenne if your kids are super-sensitive to hot foods) and the papaya, grapefruit and lime add a twist of sweet-sour that really balance the spiciness. The cilantro adds a fresh, green and distinctly “salsa-esque” flavour that I just love.

My recommendation? I would definitely try this one out at home. Florida grapefruit is in season this month so put this one on your list.

Latin Chicken with Florida Grapefruit and Black Beans
Created by:
 Brad Moore, Executive Chef, SCHOOL, Toronto, ON

Serves 4

This refreshing dish can be assembled in about 20 minutes, has a combination of flavours to brighten up winter meals.

Chicken & Marinade
4 x 8 ounce Chicken Breast, gently scored with knife

½ tbsp Garlic puree (or 2 cloves chopped fine)

½ tbsp veg. oil

¼ tsp. ground black pepper

¼ tsp. ground chilies or cayenne pepper

½ tsp. ground cumin

½ tsp. salt

4 green leaf lettuce leaves – washed, dried

Grapefruit Salsa
1/4 cup Grapefruit juice or orange juice

2 Florida red Grapefruit, peeled, segmented, roughly chopped

3 tbsp honey

2 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice

1 clove garlic, chopped

¼ tsp ground cumin

¼ tsp salt

1 x 15 oz. can of blackbeans, drained

1 cup fresh, ripe papaya, peeled, seeded and cubed
 ¼ inch
1 ripe avocado, chopped
¼ inch cubes

¼ cup red onion, finely chopped

2 tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped

• Mix all marinade ingredients and rub well into chicken breast. Let marinate for 20-40 minutes.
• Mix all Salsa ingredients. Ideal to let sit to combine flavors for at least 20 minutes.
• Grill or pan fry chicken breast. Approx 2-3 per side until done. If using frying pan, cover with lid while cooking at medium high heat
• Place green leaf lettuce leaf on serving plates. Place cooked chicken breast on lettuce. Top with 2 tbsp Grapefruit Salsa and serve.