Feelin' Jamaican mon!

This dish actually says to use a grill pan, but it SMELLS so heavenly it kind of makes you want to grill outside so the neighborhood can envy your dinner. Maybe that's just me. I paired this with a rice dish, but you may want to do something else, lighter, maybe some type of salad.

Jamaican-Spiced Chicken
from Cooking Light Eat Smart Guide

Ingredients:
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp finely chopped and seeded jalapeño pepper
2 tsp cider vinegar [I used apple cider]
2 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 salt
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 lbs)
cooking spray

Cooking:
1. Combine first 10 ingredients in a large bowl; add chicken; toss to coat.

2. Heat a grill pan to medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray.  Add chicken to pan; cook for 4 minutes. Turn chicken over; cook for 6 minutes or until done.

Yields: 4 servings (serving size: 2 chicken thighs)

Side dish.... this is turned out a bit mushy, I have a feeling it was because I kept adding more water because I didn't want it to burn [I used brown rice] and we're not the type of people who cook rice in pots. Rice cooker all the way! Next time, I'll be sure to use white and see how it goes. The rice has a mild flavor and really pairs well with spiced dishes.



Rice with Peas (kidney beans)


Ingredients:
3 cups of rice
1 can of tinned or 1 cup of fresh red peas (either kidney beans or pigeon peas)
5 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
1 uncut scotch bonnet pepper (1 jalapeno pepper may be used as a substitute)
3 Scallion (spring onions may be used as a substitute)
1 tin (or one cup) of coconut milk
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper
2 sprigs of fresh thyme (2 teaspoons of dried thyme may be used as a substitute)

Cooking:
1. Bring seven cups of water to a boil in large pot.
2. Add garlic, kidney beans, coconut milk, rice, pepper and thyme. If using fresh kidney beans, you need to soak them in 3 cups of water overnight and let boil for 40 minutes before adding the rest of the ingredients. [I basically used all the substitutes-- canned kidney beans, jalapeño pepper, spring onions and dried thyme. I'm all for simplifying recipes.]
3. Rice should be done cooking in approximately 40 minutes depending on the type of rice used. Garnish with fresh thyme optional.