Ruby Tuesday's Sonoran Chicken Pasta with Spicy Black Beans

Heard of Ruby Tuesday's? They are a chain restaurant in the USA offering super-sized plates of good ol' American fare, usually smothered in some highly calorie intensive sauce or fried and battered up more than is good for you. I found it mildly funny that our local Ruby's was located right outside the entrance to the Cardiovascular unit of our local hospital. Strange coincidence?


So I spotted this dish on Noor's site, for those of you who don't know her, Noor is a native of the beautiful Southern US state of Tennessee who now resides in Saudi Arabia with her family and blogs at Ya Salaam Cooking. And moving from the gorgeous state of TN hasn't dampered her cooking prowess, she has some of the most innovative and international dinners in town, thats for sure. I love seeing what she whips up for her family, and I took a particular fancy to this dish when she re-created it at her home.


The pasta dish consists of seasoned, grilled chicken in a heavy cheese sauce that has mild American Southwest flavors courtesy of a liberal dose of salsa, alongside a nice serving of black beans. Since I've never actually had this dish at Ruby Tuesdays, I thought I'd play around with the ingredients and make "my" version. Even though there are three components - pasta, chicken and black beans, it doesn't take too long to whip up each part, and you can always go the short-cut route and use pre-cooked rotisserie chicken.

Ruby Tuesday's Sonoran Chicken Pasta with Spicy Black Beans - adapted from RecipeLink and Ya Salam Cooking


Sonoran Cheese Sauce
4 tbsp butter or margarine
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
3 small clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup hot water (*Adjust based on how thick you want the sauce)
2-3 tbsp chicken stock
1 1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used Monterrey Jack)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce, or more to taste
3/4 cup prepared salsa (medium hot)
2 Tbsp sour cream


1. Melt butter in a saucepan and add onion and garlic. Saute until onion is transparent.
2. Stir in the flour to make a roux and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Do not brown.
3. Mix the half-and-half, hot water*, and chicken stock. Add mixture slowly to roux, stirring constantly with a whisk to avoid lumps. Allow to cook 2-3 minutes.
4. Add cheese, cayenne pepper, hot sauce to sauce. Stir to blend until cheese is melted. Do not allow to boil.
5. Add salsa and sour cream to sauce and blend.
*Start with small quantities of hot water and chicken stock. If the sauce is too think, you can always thin it out with more hot water or chicken stock.

Spicy Black Beans
1 large can black beans, pre-cooked or soaked (~10 or 11 oz)
1 Tbsp oil
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 small green bell pepper, finely chopped
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
Salt to taste
Optional - 1 green chilli, chopped or 1/2 tsp chilli powder


1. Rinse black beans in water and drain. Reserve.
2. Heat oil in a medium saucepan, add onion and garlic, fry till onion is softened. Add bell pepper and chilli (if using). Saute and then add spices.
3. Add in black beans and fry for about 2-3 minutes. Adjust salt and spice seasoning to taste.


Pasta and Chicken
1 bag cavatappi (or any medium sized pasta like penne) ~ 16 oz/1 lb
2 cups chicken breast


1. Prepare pasta as per package directions (boil in salted water, drain and reserve. Keep warm).
2. Season chicken with salt, pepper and any preferred spices e.g Cajun seasoning or a combination of chilli,coriander and onion powder and grill till done. Slice and reserve.


To Garnish
1/2 cup fresh tomatoes, chopped
4 stalks green onion, chopped


Assembly
In a large serving bowl, toss pasta and sauce while pasta is warm.  Add chicken and toss.
I usually add in the black beans as well, or you can serve those on the side.
Garnish with tomatoes and green onions.

I am sending this dish in to Presto Pasta Nights , a long-running blogging event that celebrates PASTA! PPN is the brainchild of Ruth, and is being hosted this week by Bellini Valli of More Than Burnt Toast.

Orzo "Tabbouleh"

Tabbouleh is a delightful Middle Eastern salad made of finely diced parsley and crushed wheat (bulghur).

This is a riff on the dish using Orzo - a pasta that looks like rice, intended to replace the crushed wheat component of the salad. My brother loudly exclaimed that Orzo was left over spaghetti that had been cut up till it resembled rice. Which is not true. Because seriously, who would want that job.
"Hello. Bon Giourno. I am Giuseppe. Cutter of Spaghetti-er".
But it darn looked like it.

So technically, this is probably not Tabbouleh. . But it "looked" like Tabbouleh. And hence the fine folk at Food and Wine named the dish so. Except they used Sardinian Fregola Sarda, which is a pasta so tiny, it "looks" like crushed wheat.
And I didn't.
I used Orzo, our rice imitating pasta. And I used flat leaf parsley. Because curly parsley was nowhere to be found. So maybe I should rename this dish "Tabbouleh on Steroids".

Make. Eat. It's chock full of greens, zippy with citrus and actually GOOD for you.

For the first time ever, I'm joining in at Pasta Party #165 - that would be Presto Pasta Nights (the brainchild of Ruth at Once Upon a Feast) and which is hosted this week by Rachel at The Crispy Cook.
Orzo Tabbouleh (adapted from Food and Wine Magazine, 2006)

1 cup orzo
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice (reduce by half if you don't like strong lemon taste)
1 cup minced flat leaf parsley (chop fine)
1/2 cup chopped mint
1 kirby cucumber, diced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
Kosher salt to taste

1. Cook orzo (in boiling salted water in a large saucepan) until al dente, about 5-8 minutes. Drain, spread on a plate to cool.
2. Whisk olive oil and memon juice in a seperate bowl. Add parsley, mint, cucumber, garlic and toss.
3. Finally add cooled orzo and tomatoes and toss again. Season with salt and serve immediately.
Cooks Notes - the key is to mince the parsly and mint as finely as you can.