Saturday, May 8, 2010

Walk on the Wild Side

Every night, we play the game of “what sounds good for dinner?” I could plan our meals a week or two out, and in fact I have, but the truth is, you never know what kind of food-mood you’ll be in when dinnertime actually rolls around. We have also been very good about spending as little money as humanly possible while still eating healthy and delicious food- we tend to reuse ingredients time and again. Wait, not like that. We don’t actually rummage through the trash for scraps or anything. We have a bit more class that that. But our shopping trips usually start in our own Costco-stocked freezer before resorting to a grocery store trip. Meaning that we have lots of chicken. Bags of it. Frozen and awaiting transformation into some sort of meal.

Now, I love chicken, it’s possibly my favorite protein, just cause it’s so versatile! Andrew, however, has gotten quite tired of my 100-ways-to-cook-chicken routine. “Chicken again?” he remarked sorrowfully as I told him the plan for the night. This recipe, I assured him, would be different. Not your typical grilled chicken and salad dinner. The spicy kick of the paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and cumin mix is tempered with the sweet and tangy honey/cider sauce, which is addicting enough to go back for seconds, and maybe even thirds!  I found that even with the recommended amount of honey, the chicken had too much heat for my taste, but with a few more generous spoonfuls, the balance was perfect. And added to the incredible taste of this dish, is the knowledge that it is just 321 calories per serving!!

We added some Garlic and Rosemary potatoes, a salad and some fresh bread to the meal. If I have ever cooked for you, you know about my love affair with rosemary. It is by far the best herb ever created, and I can’t think of a dish that wouldn’t be improved by a whole handful of fresh rosemary. Something about the smell, or is it the taste, just evokes an image of freshness.  I could devote a whole post to my love of Rosemary, and probably will in the near future, but for now, I will settle for simply saying that these garlic and rosemary potatoes were pretty delicious and made the perfect side dish to my new favorite chicken dish.


Spicy Honey Chicken
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp coarse salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 teaspoon ground red pepper
8 chicken thighs with skin removed
6 Tbsp honey
2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Preheat broiler.
Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken to bowl; toss to coat.

Place chicken on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil chicken 5 minutes on each side.

Combine honey and vinegar in a small bowl, stirring well.

Remove chicken from oven; brush 1/4 cup honey mixture on chicken. Broil 1 minute. Remove chicken from oven and turn over.

Brush chicken with remaining honey mixture. Broil 1 additional minute or until chicken is done.

Add honey mixture to taste.

Source: adapted from Cooking Light Magazine, March 2007





Garlic and Rosemary Potatoes
3 Roasting potatoes
1/4 cup fresh rosemary, removed from stems
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp Olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Heat large frying pan to medium/high.

Chop potatoes into 1 inch pieces.

Pour oil into hot pan and wait for it to heat. Add garlic and rosemary and stir until becomes fragrant.

Add potatoes to spice mixture and stir frequently. Allow a light brown crust to form on potatoes, then reduce heat to medium-low and cover. Cook for 20 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through.

Source: My own head 


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