Cuisine – Chicken and black bean cob loaf

I used cooked chicken in this, as we had roast chicken leftovers from the night before. Chorizo sausages or sliced beef goes well too.

Drain one can of black or red beans, make some gravy (I used one gravy sachet with one cup of water) and set them aside.

Slice the top off a cob loaf and scoop out the inside. Chop 1 onion (red if you can), 4 cloves of garlic, half a leek and 5 or 6 white button mushrooms. Brown them lightly over medium heat in a pan with olive oil, and after 5min, add the drained beans.

If you are using meat that needs to be cooked, pan fry it before you add the veggies and the beans.

Mix everything well over the heat, season with salt and black pepper (if you like it a bit spicy, add chilli powder or flakes to taste) and after 5min pour over the gravy.

Because I was using roast chicken leftovers, after 5min, I turned off the heat and added the chicken into the mix. 

Cool slightly, then add some baby spinach leaves and mix together.

Cover the bottom of the cob with sliced cheese, pour over the chicken and veggie mix, add more spinach leaves on top and cover it with sliced cheese again.

Place the cob top back on, sprinkle olive oil over it and wrap the loaf in foil.

Bake in the oven for 15min at 190°C. When ready, cut the loaf into pieces and serve it with the Mediterranean salad (below) on the side.

Mediterranean Salad: This salad is super healthy, nice and easy to make and can accompany any protein-based meal or pie. You can take out any of the vegetables, and add your favourites, but what you must have is Virgin Olive oil, lemon and fresh herbs or dried oregano. I used green olives (pitted whole, or cut in half) but black olives are fine too; cucumber, cherry tomatoes, spring (or red) onion, fresh green paprika (capsicum is fine too), fresh basil leaves and mesclun salad. Please don’t dice the vegetables too much. Apart from the olives, the basil leaves and the mesclun salad, the other vegetables go with a ratio of 30/30/30. Take care, as the taste of olives and basil can be overpowering. Mix everything in a bowl, and dress with olive oil and lemon juice – just a little at first as you want to try it and adjust as you go. Remember, you can always add but can’t take out. Lemon can bring out all those fresh flavours, but you don’t want to make it too citrusy. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Dress and season the salad 5min before serving.