Black Bean-And-Cheese Chicken Fingers

Recipe #44: http://www.rachaelraymag.com//Recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipe-index/appetizer-starter-recipes/Black-Bean-and-Cheese-Chicken-Fingers

Oh boy, this recipe is REALLY good! I'm a little surprised at that statement, but it's completely true in my opinion. Funny, I came home from work today and almost made spaghetti instead. I'm glad I stuck with my decision to try this recipe.

I have to say that I thought this recipe sounded a little ghetto when I read that I was supposed to be using corn chips. I'm glad I was pleasantly surprised to find that their crunchy saltiness blends well with the rest of the ingredients. By using them, I also got rid of the corn chip temptation lying around the kitchen. 9.75 oz was a lot more corn chips than I figured I would need. I had a lot of fun smashing them up with the rolling pin.

I made a few minor adjustments to this recipe as I so often do. I ran out of regular flour while measuring the 1/2 cup so I made up the difference with whole wheat flour. I don't think I did a precise job of cutting the chicken breasts as directed, but hey, I got the job done and they taste good so who cares if they look a little strange? I opted to use plain yogurt in lieu of sour cream, and my can of black beans was 19 oz, not 15 oz. Don't tell Rachael on me. I skipped the scallions because they're gross, and used marble cheese not cheddar because that's what was in the fridge.

This was my first dip-dip-dip recipe, and by that I mean the kind of recipe where you dip something in something, then dip it in something else, etc... You get the idea. My fingers got pretty gross and gunky and disgusting pretty quickly so be prepared for that. You'll have leftovers of your dipping ingredients too, but trust me, you won't want to eat the leftover corn chips. Even I, queen of keep-it-forever ingredients, threw mine out afterward.

The assembly of the finished product where you add the beans and the sour cream/yogurt and the tomatoes is a bit tricky. I used the beans as a base and pressed them onto the chicken fingers. Then I used the yogurt as a glue to keep the tomatoes from falling off the top. It might not be pretty but it worked pretty well.

If I had to describe what this recipe tastes most like, I would describe it as either a crunchy chicken burrito or a chicken taco with black beans. Either way, I loved it! I'm glad I've got leftovers....