Chicken. Chicken. Chicken.
I know. You're probably thinking the same thing I was. "Why is EVERYTHING chicken??" This past Saturday I was grooming through some of my favorite cooking websites trying to pick a dish for Sunday's dinner (ps - my real new favorite website is Suri's Burn Book. You HAVE to check it out) and couldn't find a dish that didn't include chicken.
Now, don't get me wrong - I love chicken. But sometimes, enough is enough right? Well it didn't seem that way, so I needed to find a way to put my own spin on it. I've made garlic lime chicken, rosemary chicken, grilled chicken, but never honey pineapple chicken. It sounded good, so I made the decision and headed to the grocery store.
This dish is great because it uses what must be everyone's favorite protein (judging by the amount of popular recipes online), but puts a fun twist on it to make it much more than just another chicken dinner. It's super easy too - so you won't be spending all day in the kitchen either.
Chicken and Glaze Recipe
3 Chicken Breasts
2 Cups Honey
1/2 Cup of Brown Sugar
1 Cup Pineapple Juice
1/2 Lemon, Squeezed
1 Bundle of Basil
Directions
First, take all of the above ingredients (minus the chicken) and stir them together in a large bowl. Once the mixture is finished, pour it into a skillet to boil for about 5 minutes. This helps all the ingredients combine together and not separate after stirring. When it's finished, just take the pan and move it to the side for later.
Meanwhile, in another greased skillet, take your chicken breasts and cook them for about 3-5 minutes on each side. **Note** You're not completely cooking them here, just browning the skin a bit to add some more color.
Now pour the glaze over the chicken breasts in a pan and bake for 20 minutes (pre-heated oven at 450).
Pineapple Salsa Recipe
2 Cups Diced Pineapple
1/2 Purple Onion
1/2 Cup Green Onions
1/2 Red Pepper
1/2 Yellow Pepper
2 teaspoons Cayenne Pepper
1/2 Cup Honey
Directions
This salsa was SUCH a surprise. I literally made it up as I went because I wanted to add a little something special to this dinner. It's so great when you can do something like this because you feel like a real chef, and it's so gratifying when it turns out good (trust me, not all of my own creations end this way :)).
All you need to do is chop the ingredients above, mix together, and then stick in the fridge for a bit to let everything mix together.
Roasted Red Potatoes Recipe
1/2 lb Small Red Potatoes
1/2 Cup Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Cayenne Pepper
Directions
I've blogged about roasting these potatoes before, so I won't go back into the detail. The only adjustment I've made here is making sure that all the potatoes are covered nicely with the oil to make sure they don't get crunchy. I also added some of the cayenne pepper to kick them up a notch. Cayenne has become one of my new favorite spices.
The last piece of this dish is the steamed asparagus. I had never steamed before, but I am definitely doing it more often.
All you need to do is buy a cheap steam ($10 at target) and put it in a pot with a little water at the bottom. Once the water is boiling, throw in your veggies and cover with a lid. The steam should cook the vegetables in under 20 minutes. It's super easy, and a nice alternative to roasting or keeping them raw.
And there you have it - another week of successful cooking. I was really happy with how this turned out because I needed to jazz up the typical chicken dinner. I also created my own salsa that is actually perfect with some chips too! That's the great thing about being new in the kitchen. You're learning each time you cook, but you gain enough knowledge to start coming up with your own ideas. Hopefully you can think of something for yourself too!
Until next time, happy cooking!