Thursday, June 12, 2014

Garlic Cilantro Lime Mexican Chicken.

Sick baby.  :-( Well, just when I thought we'd recovered from our trip to Louisiana, I have a kid come down with what I believe to be hand,foot, mouth. After a scary day on Tuesday where his fever spiked to 106.5, we spent an afternoon in the pediatricians office finding out it's "just a virus" and to go home and push liquids. Thankfully we seem to be rounding a corner today, and I am crossing my fingers we'll be free to leave the confines of our home tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a little recipe I concocted a few weeks ago in an effort to appease my Mexican food loving palette.
cilantrolimegarlicchicken

I am, unashamedly, a Mexican food lover. As in, if anyone were to ever ask me what I would eat as my last meal here on earth, it would probably include some Mexican entree, served with a heaping side of chips and salsa. Thankfully my children have followed suite, and so this whole Mexican food thing is a family affair.

I've already perfected spicing up a can of black beans to serve as a side. Still don't have that recipe up on the blog, but when I do you'll love it. Even if it does look a little less than appealing in pictures, I assure you they are amazing.

The other night I needed to whip up dinner in a pinch, and had a few of the staples for a good Mexican recipe: lime juice (bought in the little plastic concentrated bottle of juice, because Holy Moly Batman... Limes are out of control expensive right now, y'all!), Cilantro, and of course, fresh garlic. I'm a recent fresh garlic convert. For the longest time, I had just bought the jar of pre-minced garlic. But I'm here to tell you that fresh is the way to go. Yes, it's slightly more labor intensive than the jarred stuff, but it's OH SO MUCH BETTER. Trust me on this.

Anyways, back to the fact that I was in a pinch and needed to whip something up fast. Basically I opened up a large ziplock baggy, poured the following ingredients in, mixed it around and then tossed the chicken breasts in there to soak for a few hours. I just baked the chicken breasts like I normally do (at 350 for about 30 minutes-- or until they get to an internal temperature of 165 degrees). I also think this recipe would work really well if you grilled the chicken instead of baking it. Considering that by the time dinner needs to be prepared I have at least one child clinging to my legs, the grill is left to the grill master of the family (and I am most definitely NOT the grill master).

So, next time you are craving a good Mexican dish, give this a try! It won't leave you disappointed, and it makes great leftovers served cold over a bed of lettuce for a yummy Mexican salad the next day!

Cilantro Lime Garlic Mexican Chicken
5 large chicken breasts
1 bushel cilantro, chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp coarse ground black pepper
1/2 c lime juice
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander seed
5 cloves fresh garlic, minced

Combine all ingredients (except for the chicken) in a large ziplock bag. Gently mix the ingredients together by massaging the bag. Once the ingredients are mixed well, add the chicken. Let the chicken soak in the bag for several hours in the refrigerator, turning the bag at least once. To cook, simply pour everything out into a 9x13 pan, baking for about 30 minutes, or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Serve alongside rice (I made Skinny Taste's Cilantro Lime Rice and it was delicious) and beans for a complete meal. Enjoy!
 

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