SPICE-RUBBED CHICKEN WITH PARSLEY-MINT SAUCE
Chicken breast is great for midweek meals, cooking up fast and keeping dinner interesting. For this recipe from Food Network’s Bobby Flay, I used the last of my summer herbs right from the garden. The verdant herb sauce combines parsley, garlic and mint.
Flay’s recipe calls for bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, but all I had in my freezer was the skinless, boneless variety so that’s what I used. The skin would have added some delicious fat, but the spicy-sweet sauce is such a burst of flavor that I didn’t miss it. Also,
boneless chicken cooks faster.
If you prefer, you can panroast the chicken in a 425degree oven instead of grilling it. For parsley-mint sauce
1½ cups tightly packed fresh mint leaves
¾ cup tightly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley
6 cloves garlic, chopped 1 or 2 hot chili peppers, deseeded and chopped 2 tablespoons honey 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 cup olive oil
Water as needed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For chicken
1 tablespoon Spanish paprika
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, ground
2 teaspoons mustard seeds, ground
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper 2 teaspoons kosher salt 4 (8-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breasts Olive oil
Preheat grill or grill pan to high.
Make sauce by using food processor to coarsely chop mint, parsley, garlic and chilies. Add honey and mustard and process until combined. With the motor running, slowly add olive oil until emulsified.
Transfer mixture to bowl and whisk in a few tablespoons of cold water to thin to a sauce-like consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
Make rub for chicken: Whisk together paprika, cumin, mustard, pepper and salt in small bowl.
Brush chicken with a few teaspoons of oil on both sides. Rub spices on skin side of breasts and place on grill, rub side down.
Grill until golden brown and slightly charred — 4-5 minutes. Turn breasts over and continue cooking until just cooked through — 4-5 minutes. Transfer chicken to a platter.
Drizzle with parsley-mint sauce. Let rest 5 minutes. Serve with additional sauce on the side.
Serves 4.
— Adapted from foodnetwork.com