The Bryant Family: June 2011

Saturday, June 04, 2011

Recipe of the Week...

Cuban-Style Grilled Chicken with Avocados and Mangoes

And YES... It's as good as it looks!

And YES... My kids eat it!

Ingredients:

Dressing:

1 C Olive Oil

¾ C Orange Juice

1 T Grated Orange Peel

1 T Honey

1 T Soy Sauce

Chicken:

2 t Cumin Seeds

6 Cloves Minced Garlic

1 Large Serrano Chili (stemmed and minced)

½ t Salt

¾ C Olive Oil

3 T Orange Juice

3 T Lime Juice

6 Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast Halves

2 Firm but Ripe Mangoes (cut into ½ in cubes)

2 Firm but Ripe Avocados (cut into ½ in cubes)

Directions:

Whisk all dressing ingredients together and salt and pepper to taste. Can be prepared 1 day in advance, covered and placed in refrigerator. Stir cumin seeds in medium skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant (about 2 minutes). Transfer seeds to bowl and add garlic, chili and salt. Mash with fork to form a thick paste. Heat olive oil and pour over paste. Stir and let cool for about 15 minutes. Whisk in orange and lime juice and place in 9x13 inch baking dish (or a ziplock bag). Add chicken and marinade for 1 to 3 hours in fridge. Dice mangoes and avocados into 1 inch cubes, combine and add 6 T of dressing to coat. Grill chicken on medium-high heat (about 5 minutes on each side). Cut chicken into 1/3 in strips. Place lettuce in bowl and coat with dressing. Mound on plates. Arrange one sliced chicken breast on each plate. Top with mangoes and avocados. Sprinkle with nuts. I original recipe called for cashews but I like to use sliced almonds. Enjoy!

Regarding the Kids:

I put everything on their plates in bite size pieces. They love guacamole but aren't as big of fans of plain avocado. That said, I give them lots of mango and chicken, along with 1 cube of avocado and if they want dessert, they have to eat it :) Nine times out of ten, once they try it, they love it. The same goes for almonds. Instead of giving them sliced almonds, I give them each 2 whole almonds and if they want dessert, they have to eat it :) Yesterday, Payton chewed up an almond and then spit it out on the floor. Then he was told to go get the dust buster to clean up his mess and when he came back there were 2 more almonds on his plate :) He ate them and proudly proclaimed, "I like almonds!" I have no problem bribing my children to try food that is good for them!