Smoky Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl

Ingredients

• 400 g boneless chicken thighs
• 1 x 400g tin black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 x 250g pouch microwave rice
• 100 g cherry tomatoes, halved
• handful shredded iceberg lettuce
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 4 tbsp soured cream
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp chipotle paste
• 1 ripe avocado, sliced
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• 15g coriander, leaves picked
• 30 g grated cheddar
• Warm tortillas, to serve
• Quick pickled red onion, to serve

Method

1. Mix the chipotle paste, cumin and smoked paprika with the olive oil in a bowl — letting the spices meet the oil first means they bloom as the chicken cooks rather than tasting raw and dusty. Season the chicken thighs generously with salt and pepper, then turn them through the marinade until thickly coated. Leave to sit for 5 minutes while you get everything else ready.
2. Heat a large stainless or cast iron frying pan over medium-high heat until properly hot — a drop of water should skitter and vanish. Lay the thighs in smooth-side down in a single layer, with space between them. Don't crowd the pan: all at once and the thighs steam in their own moisture instead of charring. Cook two at a time if you need to.
3. Press the thighs down with a spatula so they catch and blacken in patches — 6–7 minutes a side. You're looking for properly dark spots where the spice paste has caught, and the spices should smell toasty and fragrant rather than acrid. If anything starts to smell sharp or bitter, drop the heat. Tip onto a board, rest for 2 minutes, then slice into thick strips — the juices should run clear.
4. Meanwhile, tip the black beans into a small pan with a pinch of cumin, a splash of water and a good crack of salt and pepper. Warm through over a low heat for 3–4 minutes until glossy. Taste — adjust the salt now, not at the table.
5. Ping the rice according to the packet, usually 2 minutes, and fluff with a fork. Stir a pinch of salt through while it's still hot.
6. Build the bowls: a base of hot rice, the sliced chipotle chicken fanned across one side, the glossy beans alongside. Arrange the avocado, halved cherry tomatoes and shredded iceberg in their own piles around the rim. Shower with grated cheddar so it just begins to melt against the hot chicken.
7. Finish each bowl with generous spoonfuls of soured cream, a scatter of coriander leaves, and a good squeeze of lime juice over the chicken — the acid lifts the smoke and cuts the richness of the cheese and avocado. Tuck the remaining lime wedges in for squeezing at the table.