Spicy Honey Chicken

When we made the Naan bread I posted last time, we also made this yummy chicken and used it as a filling for the bread. We also filled the bread with lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, avocados and ranch dressing. The recipe came from the Our Best Bites cookbook that I perused while visiting my mom, but it can also be found on their blog here. If you click over, at the bottom of the recipe is a link to the salad they like to use this chicken for. They say it's one of their most popular recipes, and I can see why. This is a definite winner!

Spicy Honey Chicken

8 boneless skinless chicken thighs, about 2lbs (They say thighs work best, but I used breasts and it worked fine)

2 t vegetable oil
Rub:
2 t granulated garlic

2 t chili powder

1/2 t onion powder

1/2 t coriander

1 t kosher salt

1 t cumin

1/2 t chipotle chili powder (I just used regular chili powder again)
Glaze:

1/2 C Honey

1T Cider Vinegar

Combine the rub spices in bowl and mix well. Use kitchen shears (or a pair of clean scissors) to trim off any excess fat from the chicken pieces. Pat dry. Drizzle oil over chicken and rub in with your hands to lightly coat all the pieces. Then toss chicken with the spice rub to coat all sides well. Use your hands and get in there! Grill chicken for 3-5 minutes on each side, until cooked through.
While chicken is cooking, warm honey in the microwave so it’s not so thick. Add the vinegar and combine well. Reserve 2T honey glaze for later. Take the rest and brush on chicken (both sides) in the final moments of grilling.
I’m gonna warn you that this can make a hot mess, literally. It’s sugar, and it’s gonna drip. But the smelly smoke is worth it for a minute or two. Just leave your grill on for a few minutes after the chicken is done to burn off any excess glaze. It’s totally worth it once you taste this stuff.
If you don’t have a bbq, try it on an indoor grill pan or use your broiler. Just be sure to open a window in case you burn your glaze! Drizzle the remaining glaze over the top and serve.

Naan

Naan is an indian flatbread, similar to a pita or tortilla. These are really easy, they just require planning since they do require a rise time. We filled these with some chicken, tomato, lettuce, avocado, and red onions (we used them like taco shells). I also substituted 1/2 of the flour with whole wheat flour and it worked great! I got this recipe from my mom, who got it from the wonderful Melanie from My Kitchen Cafe.

Naan

3-4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon active dry or instant yeast

1 1/2 cups milk

1 teaspoon sugar

3-4 tablespoons, melted butter

Pour the milk into a liquid measure and heat in the microwave until warm to the touch (about 110 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer). If using active dry yeast, mix the sugar and yeast into the milk and let it sit for 4-5 minutes until the mixture is foamy and the yeast has activated. Once the yeast/milk mixture is foamy, pour the mixture into a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and add the salt and 2 1/2 cups of the flour (proceed with the second paragraph of the recipe). If using instant yeast, pour the warm milk into a large bowl or the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Add the sugar, instant yeast, salt and 2 1/2 cups of the flour. Proceed as directed below.

Mix well to combine. Continue adding flour gradually in small amounts, until a soft dough is formed that cleans the sides of the bowl. Knead the dough by mixer or hand until it is smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes in the mixer or 10 minutes by hand.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and let it rest at room temperature, covered lightly with greased plastic wrap, for about 2 hours.

After the dough has rested, turn it onto a lightly floured surface (I like to use my roul’pat for this) and divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, rounding each into a ball shape. Cover the pieces with a towel and let them rest for 30 minutes. While the dough rests, preheat your oven to 500 degrees F and place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven. (If you don’t have a pizza stone, try grilling the dough on a lightly oiled outdoor grill or use a hot griddle to bake the naan – you’ll have to experiment with cooking times but I’ve seen either of those methods used with cooking naan also.)

Once the dough has rested for 30 minutes, one by one, roll each piece into a circle about 6-8 inches wide, depending on how thin or thick you want your naan. Lay the circle of dough on the hot pizza stone and spritz lightly with water. Close the oven and bake the naan for 2-4 minutes, until it is lightly puffed (some pieces will puff more than others) and brown spots begin to appear on the top. Remove the naan from the baking stone and place on a cooling rack. Brush lightly with melted butter. Stack the hot naan on top of each other as it comes out of the oven. Cover with a towel and let the naan cool completely or serve warm.

Black Bean Taquitos

I was visiting my family for a couple of weeks and my mom bought the Our Best Bites cookbook. I was flipping it through to see if there were any recipes I wanted to snag before I came home, and I came across this version of taquitos. It's the same idea as the chicken taquitos I posted before (also from Our Best Bites) but it is a bean version. To be honest, I was a little concerned that one of the ingredients was spinach. I thought, really? I don't want the earthy flavor of the spinach in a taquito, but I gave it a try anyways. I was so surprised because you couldn't taste the spinach at all! In fact, my husband, who always tries to avoid eating as many vegetables as possible gobbled these right up. We served them with salsa and sour cream, but I think they'd also be great with some guacamole. I hope you try these, they were awesome!

Black Bean Taquitos

1, 14-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 Tbl. bottled salsa

1 garlic clove, minced (I used a garlic press)

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 Tbl. fresh lime juice (about 1 lime)

1, 10-oz. box frozen spinach, thawed, drained, and roughly chopped (I bought chopped frozen spinach, but once it's frozen, be sure to squeeze as much water as you can out of the spinach)

3/4 cup frozen corn kernels

1/2 cup diced roasted red peppers (I made my own and used a total of 1 whole pepper)

1 cup shredded cheese (I used cheddar)

8-10 soft taco-sized whole wheat tortillas (regular flour tortillas would work)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Place 3/4 cup of bean in a food processor with the salsa, garlic, cumin, salt, pepper, and lime juice. Process until mostly smooth. (I think it would be possible to just mash the beans if you don't have a food processor, or you could also use a blender) Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and add remaining ingredients (except tortillas), including the rest of the beans. Mix together.

Place about 1/4 cup of the bean mixture on each tortilla. Roll up the tortillas and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until edges are golden brown and crisp.