Chef’s Plate Review: Cheesy Black Bean Mollete Melts

Chef’s Plate is a subscription service that delivers chef-designed recipes and fresh ingredients each week. There is no subscription or membership fee to join. Their recipes begin at $10.95 per plate for the 2-Person Plan and $9.75 per plate for the Family Plan. A Year of Boxes pays for this subscription.

Coupon Code: Use my link to get 3 plates FREE with your first order – CLICK HERE

We order 3 new Chef’s Plate recipes each week, and have been since August of last year. Here’s a look at one of the recipes we received this past week….

Cheesy Black Bean Mollete Melts

Molletes are the flavourful Mexican counterpart to grilled cheese, stacked with traditional toppings like homemade refried beans and spicy Monterey Jack cheese. This exciting rendition is balanced with a hit of freshness from the ripe tomato salsa and homemade pickled jalapenos for heat.

Ingredients:

• 1 can Black Beans
• 2 oz Habanero Monterey Jack Cheese
• 2 Ciabatta Buns
• 1 Shallot
• 2 Roma Tomato
• 1 Jalapeno
• 5 oz Green Cabbage
• 8g Fresh Cilantro
• 1 oz Chipotle Peppers in Adobo
• 1 ½ oz Apple Cider Vinegar
• Mollete Spice Mix

Directions:

1. Prepare Ingredients: dice tomatoes, halve and small dice shallot, pick the cilantro leaves, thinly slice the jalapeño into rounds, thinly shred the cabbage.
2. Pickle the Jalapeño: in a small pot, add the jalapeño, 1/4 cup water, and 3/4 of apple cider vinegar, bring to boil over high heat, once boiling, remove pot from heat and set aside to pickle.
3. Cook the Refried Beans: drain and rinse the black beans, in a large pan heat 2 tsp oil, add the black beans, Mollete Spice, chipotle peppers in adobo, and 1/4 cup water, cook for 4-5 minutes, breaking up the chipotle peppers with a spoon, until liquid has evaporated, season with salt and pepper, mash 3/4 of the beans.
4. Toast the Ciabatta Buns: halve the ciabatta buns, arrange on baking sheet cut side up, move sheet to middle rack and broil for 1-2 minutes, until lightly toasted.
5. Broil the Mollete Melts: spread the toasted ciabatta buns with the refried beans and sprinkle the habanero Monterey Jack cheese, continue broiling for 2-3 minutes until the cheese has melted.
6. Mix the Salsa & Jalapeño Slaw: in medium bowl add the tomatoes, cilantro, and shallot, season with salt and peppers and stir to combine, strain and discard the pickling liquid from the jalapeños, in a medium bowl add the green cabbage, jalapeños, remaining apple cider vinegar, and 1 tsp of oil, toss to coat.
7. Serve: serve the cheesy molletes with the pico de gallo salsa and jalapeno slaw.
8. Enjoy!