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Sweet 'n' Hot Chicken | ![]() |
Chicken thighs coated in warm (not spicy hot!) spices and nestled in a bed of carrots, peppers and mushrooms with a soothing sauce of honey and lemon juice. It's another Quick Supper and to minimize dishes, a One-Pot Supper too. Perfect for taking the chill off cool evenings year-round.
During a cold snap last spring when May wore the mitt of March, I thumbed through some cold-weather recipes tucked into a thick Cook Now folder. This recipe caught my attention, perfect, I thought, for a chilly night – and so it was.
It’s a one-pot meal, meat and vegetables all in the same dish. The honey provides the sweet, the spice rub the hot (though honestly, it's more "warm" than "hot"). After simmering for 30 minutes, there’s still plenty of sauce left to soak into rice or potatoes or for dipping bread.
The underlying flavor reminds me of my mother’s midnight remedy for childhood coughs, hot water with lemon juice and honey. It soothed the throat, letting everyone get back to sleep.
Years later at university, I slept with sixty girls in a cold-air dorm with the windows cracked, even in winter, to meet fire regulations. When one girl coughed hard in the night, 59 girls struggled to sleep.
Remembering Mom’s ministration, I’d tear myself out from under the electric blanket to scamper across the bone-chilling floor for a mug of hot-hot water. "Drink this," I’d whisper to the often still-sleeping girl. "It’ll help your throat." Soon the dorm would turn silent, sixty girls again deep in sleep.
Some chilly evening this winter, soothe your family with this delicious and healthful chicken dish.
QUICK SUPPER:
SWEET ’n’ HOT CHICKEN
Time to table: 60 minutes
Serves 8
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon sweet or smoked paprika
- 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs (see ALANNA’s TIPS)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (if needed)
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 pound carrots, peeled, cut in diagonal slices
- 1 red pepper, chopped
- 8 ounces mushrooms, quartered
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup lemon juice (2 - 3 lemons)
- 1/4 cup honey (see TIPS)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Chopped cilantro for garnish, optional
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil until shimmery in a Dutch oven on medium high. Meanwhile, combine spices and coat the thighs. Brown the meat, in batches if needed not to crowd, transfer to plate.
If fat remains in the pan, remove all but 1 tablespoon, otherwise add 1 tablespoon olive oil. As they’re cut, add onions, carrots, red pepper and mushrooms and cook until onions are golden. Nestle thighs into vegetable mixture.
Mix water, lemon juice, honey and salt and pour over. Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook 30 minutes.
To serve, garnish with cilantro.
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Alanna, this sure looks good to me. I was looking for some new ways to cook my favorite part of the chicken-the thigh. I'll let you know how it turns out.
ReplyDeleteThis recipe looks delicious, too! Love one-pot meals! The only thing that would make this better is if it could go in the crockpot...thoughts?
ReplyDeleteM ~ You're on a recipe hunt, girl! And you're finding my "favorite of favorites" too! I think this would be fine in a crockpot, maybe a four-hour version rather than an all-day version, however.
ReplyDeletePS A goal for 2011 is to convert current recipes to the crockpot and to add new ones as well.
What a great goal! You're right; I am hunting for crockpot-adaptable one-dish meals now since I'm 5 months pregnant and need hands-off, easy, and nutritious. I figure I'll continue to need them once my little one arrives too! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm also collecting freezer meal ideas, if you have any of those!
Thanks, Alanna!
M ~ Congratulations! What a good mum you shall be, all these healthy preparations.
ReplyDeleteI am 'just now' beginning to collect freezer meals but these are both very good! And with any luck, I'll be adding more in 2011 too, at least, that's the plan.