This is a little different from your basic ‘slap on some sauce’ barbecue. It was originally part of a ‘Spiced Chicken, Salsa Salad and Pumpkin-Chipotle Polenta’ meal from Rachael Ray.
Well, I didn’t have fresh pineapple to grill, am fresh out of quick-cooking polenta, and hate, Hate, HATE pumpkin – so I took what I could (the chicken) and you know what? It’s not too, too bad!
INGREDIENTS
•4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
•2 tbsp chili powder – the original recipe also adds 1/2 tsp cumin and 1 tbsp coriander, but since I use my own home made chili powder, and it has cumin and oregano in it, I passed
•3 tbsp brown sugar
•Good dash of garlic powder
I marinated my chicken breasts in buttermilk and stuff overnight, because I love how it keeps the chicken moist on the grill, and the subtle, tangy bite it adds. Another tasty option I might try next would be Nigella’s basic marinade, a combination of lemon, onion, garlic, and olive oil which, now that I think about it, would probably be a really nice choice. If you choose not to marinate, just have some good olive oil on hand.
Combine the spices in a large plastic food storage bag (I used a freezer bag, ‘cause I pounded out the chicken in the spices to aid in grilling time). If you haven’t marinated the chicken first, rub it with a tablespoon or so of olive oil before adding to the bag o’ spices. If you have, just shake a bit o’ the marinade off before adding to the bag. Squish around to coat the chicken well with the spice mixture, pound out a bit, if you so choose, and set aside for a few minutes.
Toss on your indoor grill set to medium high, and cook six to seven minutes per side. I added some red, yellow and orange peppers to the side of the grill and sprinkled ‘em with a bit of balsamic vinegar while the chicken was cooking.
I served ours with some canned, spiced black beans (Bush’s does a really nice job), a salad tossed with the last of my spiced dressing, and a parmesan potato pancake recipe that was kind of a failure, tho’ it tasted good, and I am pretty certain I can fix it. For THAT tale o’ woe – tune in tomorrow.
Oh, and I wouldn’t say no to a little dab o’ nice mayonnaise on the plate – it added a nice bit of creamy coolness to the sweet/spicy of the chicken. Just a thought…