My Creation & Inspired by Spanish Cuisine: Blackened Chicken, Plantains, Black Beans

I love food! I love haute cuisine. I enjoy the world's delicious variety of good foods. But I especially love food that has come out of a kitchen with soul, like the one I grew up in. In my life I have discovered that this soul can be found anywhere.

The featured photo shows one of my loves…just throwing together a meal with a Spanish twist. I enjoy any type of Tex Mex, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Brazilian, Peruvian, Central American, Mexican, etc. So one night back in November 2013, I was hungry for food I use to eat in New York City I created what you see in the picture. Blackened Chicken, Fried Plantains, and Black Beans. If you want the recipe, just email me at voicesofjoi@gmail.com. There was this little hole in the wall place called Rice & Beans on 7th Avenue, I think it was between 55th and 56th. Back in the 90's and I use to go and get my serious fix of fried plantains, collards sautéed in garlic, rice & a variety of beans. The meat varied with who was cooking. But the main staple was those yummy plantains and the rice & beans. I didn't grow up on them so when I got to New York City, I thought I had died and went to Food Heaven. So many countries had good soul food that had nothing to do with the south eastern part of the United States. Though I still love my fried chicken, collards, Mac-n-cheese dinners, I also fell in love with Jamaican, Korean, Thai, Armenian, Turkish, Greek, Chilean, Moroccan, Egyptian, kosher vegetarian Indian foods.

You might wonder why I didn't make rice with this pictured dish. I was trying to keep the carbs down that night and went with just the fried plantains but next time, you know I will make me some rice to go with my beans. That's a promise!