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Jerk 'N Baked Chicken Breast on Coconut Cilantro Rice

Info Desk
Aug 21, 2015
3 min read

As I've mentioned before, I dread cooking with chicken breast, it's boring when there's no bones or no skin but to have a healthy diet, it's the better choice. Now I rely on marinades and spices to put some flavour in these chicken boobs. This is my version of jerk chicken, traditionally made with tons of vinegar and scotch bonets, I added in some lime juice and soy and used jalepenos instead of scotch bonets (only because that's what I had in the fridge... no worries... next time). I added more heat with cayenne pepper and fresh ginger. Tons of heat to pair with the soothing, subtle flavour of the rice. My only regret... more cilantro.

Sweet & Spicy Chicken Green Bean Stir Fry with Steamed Brown Rice

Why is this good food good for you?

Brown rice vs. white rice. In this dish, I use brown rice, a whole grain, enriched with fatty clearing fiber and cancer fighting antioxidants. More importantly, they are less sugary than white rice and can actually help normalize blood sugar levels. Add a little coconut milk and chicken broth... not so boring anymore!
Poultry vs. red meat. Blah blah blah, poultry has less fat saturated fat than red meat. I'm still learning ways to make this meat tasty and we know have and enjoy chicken breast twice a week. If you're trying to trim down and/or reduce your cholesterol, it's one of the best meats to have.
Butter vs. canola oil. Butter is my guilty pleasure. Butter makes everything taste better. But butter is high in calories, bad fat including trans fat, which is the worse. I treat myself to butter here and there for sanity reasons, but subbing it with canola or olive oil is one smart decision to be made when aiming for a heart healthy diet. Canola oil has the least amount of saturated fat than other oils and has a high amount of both poly- and monounsaturated fats, which help reduce bad fat and ultimately your cholesterol levels. Eat less butter would you.

Skip ahead to the nutritional facts and printer-friendly version of this recipe.

Ingredients:

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts 2 tbsp canola oil

1/2 onion

5 green onions 4 garlic cloves

1 2-3" chunk of ginger 2-3 seeded, stems removed jalapenos 5 leaves removed, thyme sprigs

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp tamari sauce (low sodium) 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp black pepper

3 tsp ground all spice 1/2 tsp cumin

2 tbsp apple cidar vinegar

1/4 cup lime juice

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 cup chicken broth, low sodium 1 cup brown rice

1/4 fresh chopped cilantro

salt pepper to taste

8 Easy Steps (Instructions):

Step 1: In a food processer, blend onions, thyme, jalapenos, ginger and garlic with canola oil. Add sugar, spices and soy. If to dry, add more canola oil.

Step 2: Pour marinade into a glass bowl and whisk in the apple cider vinegar and lime juice.

Step 3: Reserve half of the marinade and pour the rest on the chicken breasts. Seal and refridgerate for at least 2 hours. You can do this the night before and let it marinade for extra goodness.

Step 4: Preheat oven at 375. Turn the cook top on to medium high heat, spray cooking oil on a pan and sear the marinated chicken breasts to seal the juices in. 2 minutes each side or until browned.

Step 5: Lay the breasts on a lined baking sheet and spoon that reserved marindae on top. Go as heavy or as light as you like. I like it a bit heavy so that it spills into my rice. Yum! Bake each side for 9 minutes, spoon more marinade over the other side of the chicken.