$30 Superbowl Party Pulled Chicken Subs w/ Sofrito Sauce & Ensalada Tipica

With only $17.31 left of my $30 budget for game day I still need a main course and a dessert, okay here we go. Two of the most famous Cuban dishes are Cuban Sandwiches and Arroz con Pollo, I decided to marry these two dishes to create my own unique sub. As a southerner I am no stranger to a good pulled pork or chicken sandwich, I used my tried and true method to make a pulled chicken then let it simmer in the sofrito sauce. I will be using chicken thighs, because they are very meaty and moister than white meat. My package for 10 thighs was only $5. 66 compared to the breast which were almost double that. Use any bread you like for this, just make sure you have enough for 10 portions. I would avoid using a Baguette; you want a bread wide unsought to pile on the meat. The Esalada Tipica is Cuba’s version of a tossed salad; the vegetables usually consist of tomato, cucumber, lettuce, onion and radish. The crowd I will be feeding are not crazy about radishes or raw onion, so I will just be doing cukes and tomatoes. To salt the sofrito sauce I used a tomato bouillon cube, Knorr and Maggi are the brands I buy. Total for the subs & salad $11.44 yields 10 servings

Pulled Chicken Subs w/ Sofrito Sauce

10 chicken thighs rinsed & patted dry
Salt
Pepper
2 Tbs Oil
2 Garlic cloves minced
1 tomato or chicken bouillon cube
 6oz can tomato paste
1 lrg green pepper sliced thin
½ lrg onion sliced thin
1 cup of water
Sub Rolls or French Bread

Preheat oven to 350
Season each thigh generously with salt and pepper. Place Thighs in an oven safe pan that has been sprayed w/ nonstick spray. Add enough water to cover the bottom of your pan. Cover with foil and cook for 30-45 minutes (until meat pulls away from bone).

While chicken is cooking prepare Sofrito sauce. Heat the 2 Tbs of oil over medium heat and sauté garlic. Stir in bouillon cube until dissolved. Stir in remaining ingredients, except bread and reduce heat to low

Remove chicken from oven, cool until you are able to pull meat off each bone, Discard skin fat, and bones. Stir pulled chicken into sofrito sauce. Simmer mixture for 10 minutes.Toast bread and spoon chicken mixture onto each slice.

Ensalada Tipica

3 large Tomatoes
2 large cucumbers
1 head iceberg lettuce
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Chop veggies. Stir together remaining ingredients and pour over chopped vegetables. Toss to evenly distribute dressing.

Notes / Tips: You can make your pulled chicken the night before, and stir it into your sauce a few minutes before your guests arrive. If you enjoy spicing things up, add in a tsp of red pepper flakes or a few dashes of hot sauce. The bouillon cubes that are used for this are slightly larger than the standard ones. Look for these in the Latin foods section of your grocery store. Use any combination of veggies you like for the salad, be sure you do not put dressing on it to early, this can cause your veggies to wilt.