Ancho Honey Chicken with Tropical Rice

This chicken was so, so, SO incredibly yummy. We were blown away with the yumminess of it all. You just have to try it. Just have to. Definitely a lot of summer flavours, which made it perfect for a freezing cold January in Ottawa evening!

I also never, ever do anything exciting with rice. I am truly a plain Jane when it comes to rice so this recipe definitely called for a step outside of the old rice comfort zone.  End result was pretty darn tasty if I don`t say so myself. You will end up with lots of left over fruit (1/2 a cantaloupe and a good deal of pineapple too) so have some fun and make yourself up a nice big fruit salad for later deserts and lunches. Scour your kitchen for any other left over fruit you might have on hand - I added some chopped oranges, a handful of blueberries and more lime with a sprinkle of sugar. Très bon appétit!

Ingredients:
Chicken:
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Worchershire sauce
1 tablespoon ancho chili powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt (1/2 tsp. sprinkled directly on chicken)
1 tablespoon canola oil
4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts

Tropical Rice:
2 cups finely chopped cantaloupe
2 cups finely chopped fresh pineapple
1 red pepper, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
4 cups cooked brown rice
1 cup toasted slivered almonds
2 tablespoons canola oil
Juice of one lime
3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. To make the chicken, heat oven to 350˚F. Place brown sugar, honey, vinegar, Worchershire sauce, ancho chile powder, cayenne pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until brown sugar is dissolved and mixture has reduced to 1/4 cup. Sprinkle chicken breasts with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Place chicken breasts on a grill pan heated over medium high heat and sear chicken breasts on both sides for 1 to 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Place seared chicken in a 13×9-inch baking dish and use a pastry brush to rub half the glaze on all sides of the chicken breasts. Bake at 350˚F for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and baste with remaining glaze. Bake an additional 2 minutes at 350˚F or until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the center.

2. Meanwhile, make the tropical rice by mixing cantaloupe, pineapple, red pepper, and onion in a large bowl. Remove 1/3 cup fruit mixture for chicken garnish, if desired. Stir in rice, toasted almonds, canola oil, lime juice, and salt until well mixed.

3. To serve, place rice on 4 plates and top each with a piece of chicken and fruit garnish. Makes 4 servings.

- recipe cred to Bake, Batter & Bowl  :)

BBQ'ed Sweet Chili Chicken Pizza

Mum Giles, this recipe is for you! 


Now how cool is this recipe? I mean really? BBQ'ing pizza. Wow. Had never done that before. This recipe may be taking the whole grilling experience to a new level. The ultimate BBQ adventure. You'll definitely want a buddy when you're making this dish because it can move REALLY quickly. The important thing to note is that when you first put your dough on the grill, you are initially cooking the top side of the pizza that will eventually house your ingredients on (seems backwards... I know!).  It will become obvious as you prepare your pizza, but just to clarify things:
1) the side of the dough you oil will eventually be the top side of the pizza (this side is cooked down first)
2) when the top side is cooked, flip the dough (so that the cooked side is on top) and add your toppings
3) put your 1/2 cooked dough with the toppings now on it back on the grill (toppings up of course :)

Depending on your ingredients, you may want to toss your pizza in the oven to broil it for a minute or two before serving. Bon, bon appétit!


Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
All-purpose flour, for shaping dough
1 pound pizza dough (either purchase at store, or, better yet make your own)
Sauce: Sweet Chili Sauce for Chicken*
Pizza toppings: cooked chicken, scallions, crumbled goat cheese, avocado, red onion, red pepper, grated cheese etc.

* a note on the sauce: this is not garlicky or spicy, but rather a nice sweet sauce with a hint of chili spice. The bottle looks something like this:

Directions
1. Heat grill to medium. Brush a large rimless baking sheet (or an inverted rimmed sheet) with 1 tablespoon oil (we use our panini press sheets). On a lightly floured work surface, roll and stretch dough to two 8-inch ovals or rounds. Transfer to prepared sheet. Brush tops with 1 tablespoon oil.

2. Place crusts on your baking sheets oil side down. Transfer dough to grill. Cook, without turning over, until undersides are firm and begin to char, 2 to 3 minutes. Using tongs and a large spatula,

3. Scatter crusts with sweet chili sauce, grilled chicken, scallions, cheese, red onion and red pepper; and slide back onto grill. Cook, rotating occasionally, until cooked through and cheese begins to melt, 3 to 5 minutes.  Be very careful to watch your crust to ensure it doesn`t burn. Transfer to a cutting board.

4. Serve with some nice avocado and spinach on top. You may need to broil your pizza in the oven for a couple of minutes if you want that grilled top look. It will certainly be grilled on the bottom though. Enjoy!