Coconut Lime Chicken
This has to be hands down one of the best tasting dishes I have ever made!!
Ingredients
- *1 Package of Skinless, Boneless Chicken Breasts (I actually bought the thinly sliced breast - so it saved a step later during prep)
- *3 Tbsp Canola Oil
- *1 Large Lime (for juice and zest)
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce (Low Sodium)
- 1.5 tsp Kosher Salt
- 3 Tbsp Sugar
- 2 tsp Curry Powder
- 3/4 cup Canned Coconut Milk
- 1/4 cup Chopped Fresh Cilantro
- Optional - 1 Serrano Pepper (Finely minced or cut into thin slivers)
Instructions
Slice chicken breasts in half, as if you were butterflying them. Place them in a gallon zip top bag and flatten them uniformly with a meat pounder (or heavy pan, or wine bottle, etc).
In a bowl, add all of the marinade ingredients together: oil, lime zest (of entire lime), cumin, soy sauce, salt, sugar, curry powder, coconut milk, lime juice, and Serrano pepper if you are using one. This marinade may taste pretty salty to you right now, but once we put it over the chicken and rice, it will balance out. Pour the marinade over the chicken in the zip top bag, squeeze the air out and allow to marinade at least 30 minutes, or preferably up to 2 hours in the fridge - I allowed one hour.
After marinating, grill the chicken over moderately high heat in a pan with a bit of cooking spray or canola oil in it (or on the grill - whichever you prefer). If you are doing it over a pan, get the pan really hot before you add the meat. You want it to sear. Allow to sit without moving it for several minutes on each side until just cooked. The time will depend on the thickness of the meat. While cooking the meat, add the marinade to a small saucepan and bring to a full boil for at least 2-3 minutes. This is sufficient to kill all of the bacteria in it. Or you could double the marinade, divide in two, and just toss the part that you used for the chicken.
Serve the chicken (I prefer to serve over Cliantro Lime Rice) and a drizzle of the sauce over rice with chopped cilantro and fresh lime juice on the chicken. This is a very important part, as these flavors bring balance and brightness to the dish.
