Swiss Bean Chicken

Nick, Dec. 31, 2022

When cooked for the Forge, this recipe was quite controversial. In the weeks leading up to me cooking it, I would tease the idea of it, and many would shudder at the thought, with the swiss cheese camp and anti-bean camp (why?) trembling in fear. Once the day I was cooking was announced, many Forge members suddenly tried to find something else to do that evening, but to no avail. Thus, the day came, and the entire Forge was sitting down to eat the feared chicken, with swiss cheese and beans.

This meal is an independent invention of my Mom - she loves swiss cheese, and if I'm honest, I think one day she just threw together a bunch of different ingredients we had lying around the house and came up with this. In her own words, when this meal is cooked, it looks "like it came out of a sewer" (just to warm up your taste buds a little bit). Nonetheless, it is quite delicious, and despite all of the hate before hand, this meal was actually well received by the Forge!

The question remains, then: will you be willing to face your fears and try this meal?

Ingredients

Feeds:
  • [2] lb chicken breast or thigh
  • [2] cans black beans (or black and chili beans)
  • [1] onion (diced)
  • [3]-[4] slices swiss cheese*
  • [3] cloves fresh garlic**
  • Butter

Seasonings

All to taste :)

  • Dried basil
  • Crushed red peppers
  • Chili powder (can skip if using chili beans (but you should add it anyways))
  • Black pepper
  • Salt
  • Garlic powder

* my Mom likes to use kraft single swiss cheese, which seems to be a little stronger than normal sliced swiss cheese. If you don't want to use kraft, you may want to get a few extra slices to be safe.

** you should probably add more garlic. Just do it

Directions

Before starting, you may want to cut your chicken into smaller chunks so that it cooks faster. However, this isn't strictly needed as you ultimately will break it apart in the pan as it cooks.

  1. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add and melt the butter.
  2. Add the chicken into the hot butter, along with the onion, garlic, and seasonings to taste (don't skimp out on any of the seasonings, and feel free to experiment!).
  3. As the chicken cooks, stir and rotate frequently, and break the chicken up into smaller chunks, shredding it as much as you can in the pan.
  4. Once the chicken is done cooking and is shredded / broken into chunks, add the beans. Stir to combine.
  5. Break apart the slices of swiss cheese and slowly add them to the pan, stirring them in until they all melt.
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