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  :)

Frozen Fruit Skewers with Honey-Yogurt Dipping Sauce

Oooooooooooo look at these little guys! Kids`ll eat anything on a stick right? They'll be fooled in to thinking it's fun and down all of their fruit n' veggie servings in one sitting. I'm sure of it! This recipe encourages lots and lots of NIBBLING. Bon appétit!




Ingredients:
Skewers:

Fresh fruit (raspberries, grapes, strawberries, blackberries, kiwi ... you name it!)

Honey-Yogurt Dipping Sauce
¼ cup plain yogurt
2 teaspoons honey

Directions:

1. Fill your skewers up with fruit - your little guys can help out with this!

2. Freeze the skewers in an airtight container or a zip-top bag for at least 5 hours until frozen solid.

Berries with Buttermilk & Honey Frappé

Okay, so this dish is a whole lot like the one I posted a couple down, but hey, it's summer, it's berry season and that means NO BAKE. I havn`t actually cooked a meal inside in 5 weeks! We had a lactose intolerant in our midst when serving this dessert (hats off to you dad - you made it on the blog!) so I substituted soy milk instead of the buttermilk and added some frozen blueberries to the "frappé" ... love that word! The result = blue honey soy frappé. All in all, super tasty, super refreshing, super easy. If you do end up going with the buttermilk, why not make the frozen fruit cupcakes the following night? For some reason (at least here in Ottawa), they don`t sell 250 or even 500 mL containers of buttermilk, you have to go all out on the 1L. Who drinks 1L of buttermilk??  Bon appétit!


Ingredients
1 cups cold buttermilk
1/2 cup ice
2 tbs honey
1 1/2 cups mixed berries (any combination of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries)
1/4 cup fresh mint (optional)

Directions
Blend buttermilk, ice, and honey in a blender until frothy. Combine mixed berries with fresh mint. Divide iced buttermilk and berries among 4 to 6 bowls.
- pic and recipe cred

Frozen Fruit Cupcakes

Okay folks. This is the frozen summer dessert to beat all frozen summer desserts. Bring these cutesies out of your freezer and you will be revered as the dessert goddess who rules with her golden whisk. They`re gorgeous, zippy and not crazy bad for you. Such a refreshing, cool treat for a hot summer day. Bon appétit!
ps - it pains, pains, PAINS me that I don't have a real picture of these cupcakes. This picture looks something like them but not exactly... Imagine a colourful buttermilk filled cupcake with half submerged pieces of fruit, nice and frosty... or, better yet - go pick yourself up a carton of buttermilk and make up some of your own!

Ingredients:
1 lemon

2 cups buttermilk 

1/2 cup sugar 

1/8 teaspoon salt 

2 cups assorted fresh fruit 

Garnishes: Lemon leaves, halved strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and nectarine wedges 

IMPORTANT NOTE: Begin about 3 -1/2 hours before serving or prepare a day ahead. 

Directions: 

1. Line (twelve) 2-1/2-inch muffin pan cups with fluted paper baking cups. 

2. Into a large bowl, grate peel from lemon. Add buttermilk, sugar and salt. With wire whisk; mix til blended. Gently stir in 1-1/4 cups fruit. Spoon mixture into paper baking cups. 

3. Top with remaining 3/4 cup fruit. Some fruit will stay above mixture for pretty color. Cover; freeze til firm, about 3 hours. Peel off paper baking cups from dessert.