Tuesday Tasties No.15

At the moment I'm in a weird place when it comes to a healthy lifestyle plan. I'm not really motivated to spend much time cooking up a super healthy meal and I'm kinda struggling to push myself into doing a workout. This last week is a prime example, in contradiction to my usual routine, I've only managed to do three workouts and I've probably eaten more treats and consumed more alcohol then I would care to admit. I've got some emotional/psychological scars (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it) which will need a little time to heal.

Jerk Chicken with Rice & Beans

 

The whole point of my ramble above is that this has forced me to be a bit more creative when it comes to satisfying any cravings my body is having. I had almost forgotten about this one as it's been such a long time since we cooked it! It used to be one of Ads signature dishes and it never fails to disappoint.  You'll need:

• 4 chicken thighs on the bone
• Honey
• Olive oil
• Fresh/dried rosemary
• Fresh coriander
• 6 spring onions, chopped
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 cup of rice (for 2 people or 2 cups for 4)
• 300ml of chicken stock
• 1 can of black beans
• Fresh/dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves (stalks removed)
• A pinch of the following: Nutmeg, cloves, allspice
• 3 tablespoons of rum
• 3 tablespoons of gin (trust me!)
• A good glug of white wine vinegar or rice wine vinegar if you don't have this to hand
• 1 chopped chilli (or chilli flakes if you've got no chillies to hand!)
• 4 cloves of garlic

Whilst this is probably the most extensive ingredients list I've done, the vast majority of the above is about to be blitzed to death in a blender.

Before you do anything else though, pop your oven on at 200 degrees and grab yourself a pan big enough to fit your chicken thighs into. I like to score my meat before drizzling with some olive oil and seasoning slightly.

Heat the pan and then place your chicken skin side down and leave this for about 5 minutes so it goes nice and golden.  Once one side is done, flip them over to cook a little on the other side.

Whilst your chicken is cooking, you've got time to get together your jerk sauce. 

In a blender put 3 of the spring onions, a pinch of thyme, the bay leaves, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, the rum, the gin, the vinegar, a tablespoon of honey, salt, chilli, garlic and a dash of olive oil.  Then blitz everything to a pulp. The addition of gin adds a slightly fruity note to the sauce which really compliments the chilli heat.

Pour the finished sauce into an ovenproof dish. As the chicken should now almost be cooked through,  remove from the pan and place them (skin side up) on top of the sauce.  Then drizzle with a little honey and a pinch of rosemary before sticking in the oven for 15 minutes to finish off.

While your chicken is in the oven, it's time to make the rice. Fry the remaining spring onions with  the cinnamon stick in a little olive oil for around 1 minute. Add the rice, chicken stock and the beans to the pan and leave to cook through.

Now everything should be ready to go, make sure to grab your chicken out of the oven before the honey burns!

Dish up the rice into bowls before topping with the cooked chicken and a good drizzle of that delicious sauce.  Top with a generous helping of chopped coriander.

I quite like to keep the leftover sauce to add to other dishes for an extra kick as it's packed full of flavour, be sure not to let it go to waste!!

Putting chilli in your food is a great boost for your system, don't be afraid to leave the seeds in!