Pollo Tropical

So if you're anything like me, and grew up in South Florida, Pollo Tropical is A-Mazing! I went to eat there recently with a friend after a long hiatus away from it and it just renewed my love for beans and rice and mojo marinated pork. I really wanted to go get a TropiChop for dinner, but Matt insists that he isn't a fan. So I decided I would make my own version of my favorite TropiChop and prove to him that it's good food and he would love it if he just gave it a chance. I scoured the Internet for some kind of copy-cat recipe, but didn't really come up with anything that seemed right. So what did I do? A little of this, a little of that. And it was perfect!!

TropiChops are bowls filled with your favorite Pollo Tropical starch (or lettuce - but why would you do that?), some beans (if you like), veggies (again, if you like), and then the protein of your choice. Very simple, standard, basic cuisine found all over the Caribbean and Central America. So really, I knew I couldn't go too wrong.



I decided that instead of making just plain, white rice I would make some yellow, seasoned rice. I watched an episode of Food Network Star and the judges made a point to say it's not enough to have parts of your dish well seasoned that will taste good in a combined bite. Every individual aspect of your dish has to stand on its own and taste good without the help of the other components. So with that in mind, I added 1/4 teaspoon each of salt, freshly ground pepper, garlic powder, and 3/4 teaspoon of turmeric to my pot of 2 cups boiling water, then added my 1 cup rice and simmered for 20 minutes.

While that was cooking, I drained and rinsed two cans of black beans. I opted for the unseasoned kind, but the seasoned is probably fine too. In a saute pan, heat some olive oil to medium-high heat. When hot, added 1/2 white onion, diced, and 1/2 green pepper, diced (as usual, I used the frozen, pre-chopped veggies - about 1/3 cup each). Add a sprinkle of salt to help the veggies start to sweat. Once onions are becoming translucent, add one can diced tomatoes with green chilies (I used Rotel) and drained and rinsed beans. Cover with a lid and reduce heat to medium, allowing a sauce to form in the pan.

(Right before I started cooking I realized we had one chicken breast frozen in the freezer. I knew that wasn't going to be enough for three people, even with the rice and beans, so I decided to used canned chicken breast. Now for those of you who have never used this before, don't be afraid. This was my first time, and it was so quick and easy and tasted just fine in our meal. Even my husband, who can be picky about things like this said it was good.) Drain two cans of chicken breast and add to beans to heat through. (I used another Goya seasoning packet (a tropical marinade) to the chicken a few hours before cooking. It had great flavor, but added a little too much salt to the dish. If you are going to marinade or season your protein, make sure it's not too salty when combined with everything else.)



The finished product - my own TropiChop, plantains, and a good chunk of Cuban bread.

As I made this dish, I thought the onions, green peppers, tomatoes, and green chilies were enough vegetable for the meal. If you want more, corn, sauteed onion and pepper slices, or salsa would be good additions too. I bought some frozen plantains at the store, along with a loaf of authentic Cuban bread to go along with it. (Next time I will try to make plantains on my own - I was too scared this time!) This was the perfect meal. Even Carter gobbled it down (and leftovers too)! The only thing that made this better was some Curry Mustard sauce, just like they make at Pollo Tropical.

3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons yellow mustard
2 Tablespoons curry powder
Mix to combine and allow flavors to mingle in the refrigerator for a few hours before eating. Just put a big dollop on top of your TropiChop and mix it all together. It's good stuff - these Caribbean people know what they're doing when it comes to food!!