Spicy Chicken Thighs with Sweet Potatoes & Cucumber-Rhubarb Salsa

NGI-Blog-Chicken-Thighs-CR-1200-600-flip - copy

Spicy Chicken
Thighs with
Sweet Potatoes

Photo Credit: Alexandra Shytsman for
Natural Gourmet Institute

& Cucumber-Rhubarb
Salsa

Dinner

I Love Me Café ™

Adapted from the
Natural Gourmet Institute

INGREDIENTS

For the chicken and salsa:

  • 1 habanero chili
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 2 scallions, trimmed, white
    and green parts thinly sliced separately
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 4 bone-in chicken thighs (skin off)
  • Sea salt
  • 1 1/2 cups rhubarb cut into
    1/4-inch cubes
  • 1 cup seeded hothouse English cucumber, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
  • 1/4 cup minced cilantro
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon lime juice

For the sweet potatoes:

  • 1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 scallion, trimmed, thinly sliced
  • 2 teaspoons lime juice

Spicy Chicken Thighs with Sweet Potatoes & Cucumber-Rhubarb Salsa

Adapted from the Natural Gourmet Institute

Yield: 4 Servings

Chicken thighs are more moist and flavorful than the ubiquitous chicken breasts, and this recipe provides a really simple way of preparing them. Cucumber and rhubarb make for a zingy, summery salsa, while the lime brightens the dish.

To make chicken & salsa:

1. Pulse chili, garlic and white parts of scallions in a food processor until finely chopped. With the machine running, stream in soy sauce and olive oil. Puree until sauce is homogenous and transfer to a bowl.

2. Heat a grill pan over high heat.

3. Season chicken with salt and brush chicken with sauce on both sides and grill, 5-6 minutes per side, flipping once.

4. In the meantime, combine rhubarb, cucumber, cilantro, honey, canola oil and lime juice in a small bowl. Stir in green parts of scallions. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes.

To make sweet potatoes:

1. Place potatoes in a pot, cover with cold water, and season with a generous pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer, and cook covered just until tender, about 20 minutes and drain.

2. When cool enough to handle, peel potatoes and slice thinly.

3. Whisk together oil, salt and cumin, and gently toss potatoes in the mixture. Grill potatoes just until grill marks appear, flipping once, about 1 minute per side. Transfer potatoes to a platter; sprinkle with scallions and lime juice.

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New York City’s Natural Gourmet Institute is the leading health-supportive culinary school that combines professional culinary technique with science-based nutrition. With their $5 Dinners recipe series, they dispel the myth that eating healthfully is inaccessible. Each of these recipes costs five dollars or less per serving, proving the same five dollars that can be spent on a fast food meal can pay for a delicious, balanced and satisfying home cooked dinner.

 

3 Bean Chili

3 Bean Chili

I Love Me Café

This comfort meal tastes best when prepared with company, accompanied by lots of conversation.

Dinner

3 Bean Chili

®

3 Bean Chili

I Love Me Café

This comfort meal tastes best when prepared with company, accompanied by lots of conversation.

Dinner

3 Bean Chili

®

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3/4 cups onions, diced
  • 1 cup red or green peppers, diced small (I like to use various colors)
  • 1 ½ cloves garlic minced
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • 8 oz* of organic chickpeas, canned or soaked and ready to cook as shown in chart
  • 8 oz of pinto beans, canned or prepared as shown in the chart
  • 8 oz red or black beans, canned or prepared as shown in the chart
  • One 28 oz can of diced tomatoes with their juice
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon of cumin
  • ½ tablespoon chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon tumeric

3 Bean Chili

Makes 8 cups: each serving is one cup

Directions

1.  Put the beans all ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil

2.  Lower heat and simmer for 1 hour, until the acidity of the tomatoes becomes neutralized and all the flavors have been blended to savory perfection


Chef Angela: Once you set the pot to simmer, go read a book, meditate or enjoy some family time. The chili can be served with brown rice, quinoa, or a side of fresh green salad. Optional: add a teaspoon of creamy low-fat Greek yogurt.


Debbie’s Nutrition Notes:
This dish combines the nutrition power of three legumes – chickpeas, pinto beans, and black beans. Because they are high in fiber, they are digested slowly to help stabilize your blood glucose.  They are also an excellent source of plant protein, vitamins and minerals.

Black Bean Chipotle Burger

Chipotle Black Bean Burger

Black Bean
Chipotle
Burger

Presenting a unique
way to enjoy legumes:
tasty burgers!

Dinner

I Love Me Café ®

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ cup diced onions
  • One green and one red pepper, chopped
  • 2 ¾ cup black beans
  • Use dry beans as shown in the Legume Chart, or use organic canned beans with no salt
  • 2 teaspoons of cumin
  • 1 teaspoon of chipotle adobe sauce
  • 1 chipotle pepper
  • ¼ cup of cooked quinoa, prepared as shown in the Whole Grain chart

Black Bean Chipotle Burger

Yield: Makes 5 burgers

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium frying pan, add the diced onions and peppers, and sauté them on a low flame until soft, about 7-10 minutes

2. In a food processor, place the black beans, cumin, chipotle, chipotle adobe sauce and pulse until chunky and well mixed but smooth. The texture should resemble chopped meat

3. Fold in the cooked quinoa and peppers and shape the mix into 5 burger patties, about ½ inch thick

4. Sauté the burgers over medium heat in the same pan you used for the onions and peppers until browned on both sides, about 3-5 minutes each side on a medium flame


Chef_Angela_2_75Chef Angela: I love eating my “burger” with fresh avocado slices, guacamole, sprouts, lettuce, tomato, or sliced red onion. This recipe can be doubled, so you can freeze the extra burgers, or you can enjoy them for lunch the next day.

DebbieP_75

Debbie’s Nutritional Notes: Black beans provide a healthy serving of antioxidants, B and C vitamins, minerals (potassium and magnesium) and plant proteins.

They are low in saturated fats and are cholesterol free, making them heart healthy. Plus, their high fiber content helps lower cholesterol and keep blood glucose stable.