Easy Mole

Contributed by Eden Alexander Martin
Total Prep Time: 10 min prep. 30 min active cooking. 40 minutes in total. The first time will likely take longer with prep, but it gets much easier over time.	Servings: 4

Eden says:

My mom had a Mexican roommate in college and majorly simplified the recipe. This tends to be my easy to make main meals for potlucks and meal trains.

Ingredients:

• Meat version: 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs or two split chicken breasts if you like white meat
• Vegan version: a can of black beans. Start with a half can and see how much you want to use.
• Light oil, like avocado oil. Enough to sauté the onions in and perhaps chicken
• 1 small to medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced, grated, or pressed
• ½ t smoked paprika
• ½  t cumin
• ½ t cinnamon
• 2 T cocoa powder
• 1 14 oz can tomatoes, whole or diced. 
• ½ c broth. Use whatever broth you prefer.
• 3 T raisins; I prefer golden raisins.

Optional:

• 2 T of adobo sauce from canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• Sesame seeds, for garnish
• Pumpkin seeds or sliced almonds, for garnish

Directions:
Add oil to the pan.
If making with chicken, brown chicken and cook till mostly done; take out and set aside.
Add more oil, add in onions and garlic and sauté on medium-low till tender or translucent.
Add spices, including cocoa, and cook for 30 seconds or so.
Add in canned tomatoes, broth, and adobo sauce and simmer for about 15 min, or until it thickens.
If making with chicken, put chicken back in and make sure it cooks the rest of the way. Use meat thermometer.
If making with black beans instead, add now. Cook for another minute.
Add raisins and stir well.
Turn off heat and top with sesame seeds and nuts if desired.
Serve with rice and a green salad with avocado in it. I myself like to eat this in a tortilla with rice and the salad altogether.

Substitutions, Options, Meal Suggestions: 
This is a very flexible dish, and has been refigured a few times, so feel free to do that yourself. As I noted before, this can be made for meat eaters or vegans, and for those who love spice and those who don’t.

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