Achiote Chicken and Black Bean Salad

Another fantastic ingredient I found in Mexico is Achiote Paste. It is the main flavouring for Cochinita Pibil, a dish that I discovered yet again at the Breakfast Buffet in our Hotel. It does seem that this is the perfect place for real local Food, as Restaurants are anything but Mexican at the Cancun Hotel Strip.
Cochinita Pibil is Pork coated in the Achiote Paste, wrapped in Banana Leaf and roasted in a firepit underground.

Achiote paste is made with Annato, a red seed from the Achiote Tree, that is used as a food colouring all over the world. Just check the cheese in your fridge. It probably has Annanto listed under the ingredients. Here it is used for it's deep and mysterious peppery flavour and is mixed with Oranges and Limes to make a smooth coating for meat.

I'm using this Paste today to give some chicken breasts a Mexican makeover.

Ingredients:
3 small Chicken Breasts (130g each)
1 tbs Achiote Paste (sold in block form)

Juice of 1/2 Orange

Juice of 1 Lime

1 Clementine, segmented and diced roughly

180g cooked Black Beans

5 Cherry Tomatoes, quartered
1/2 of each Red, Yellow and Green Bell Pepper, diced roughly

1 red Onion, diced

1 long red Chilli, diced

1/2 Lime (juice)

1 Garlic Clove, finely chopped

1 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Sea Salt and Black Pepper

Blend the Achiote Paste with the Orange and Lime Juice in a food processor until smooth. Marinate the Chicken breasts in this Paste for a few hours.

Spray the Peppers with cooking spray and place into a 200C oven. At the same time the Chicken breasts can join the oven in a separate tray. Roast both for 20 minutes.

After that cover the breasts with tinfoil and leave to rest while making the salad.

Simply combine the Tomatoes, Clementine, Onion, Chilli, Black Beans, Roasted Peppers, Garlic, Olive Oil and Lime Juice and season with Sea Salt and Pepper.
The Chicken can be served hot as it is or left to cool down. It's lovely either way.