Hey Party-Makers,
You could say that this week has been a big week in our household! Committing to finally publishing the blog was something that we had pushed back for a while. Mostly because we didn’t have the energy to really commit to working on it after working full days, but it was also due to just little tidbits of fear that would creep up. There is something really lovely about jumping fully in though, isn’t there?
It feels like a trend for Ben and me to pursue things we’re not totally equipped for. That was true of our move to Portland, our backpacking adventures ( I was NOT built to backpack 20 miles without complaining)—and it’s absolutely true of this blog. And we’re okay with that, because there is beauty to be found in the parts of us that want to try something scary and new. For us, doing things that scare us is becoming part of how we function as a partnership. And it’s beautiful because it helps us challenge each other, and it keeps us from becoming too comfortable.
Something that has become essential to our different adventures has been learning to treat ourselves after reaching a new goal. I would be lying if I said that this isn’t almost always about food. Case and point, on Launch Day around noon, Ben texted me to ask what we were going to eat to celebrate. He didn’t even know that at the time I was marinating the chicken for our dinner, and crafting up this blog post. What can I say? Were just a pair of hungry lovebirds.
I started honing in on this recipe earlier this year, when I got a jar of local honey from a coworker. It was so delicious that I pretty much started using it in everything. In an alternate version of it, I used cilantro, but then I discovered grilled cilantro leaves actually aren’t my favorite thing. Generally, I’m also not a huge fan of mixing savory and sweet things together, but the mixture of the honey, lime, and chili powder has made me a believer.
Ok, so a few other things I love about this recipe:
- You probably have most of the ingredients in your pantry.
- It’s JAM-PACKED with flavor (I poured all the leftover juices from the platter on my salad as a dressing!)
- If you have the time to let it marinate for a few hours, the marinade will brine your chicken so sublimely you won’t have to worry about it drying out on the grill at all.
We also like to use this same recipe to make tacos. All you have to do differently is shred your chicken at the end and serve with fresh corn tortillas and toppings!
Honey Chili Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 Whole Chicken Breasts boneless, trimmed
- 3 Green Onions Sliced
- 2 Tbs Chili Powder
- 1 Tsp Paprika
- 1 Tsp Cumin
- 4 Leaves Fresh Oregano Minced
- 2 Tsp Salt
- 3 Tbs Honey
- 1/4 Cup Lime Juice
- 3 Tbs olive oil Save 1 for brushing grill
Instructions
Preparing and Marinating Chicken
- Slice your green onion and combine in a bowl with your chicken breasts
- Combine remaining ingredients in the bowl, making sure sure all pieces of chicken are well coated on both sides. Let chicken rest in the fridge for at least an hour.
Grilling
- Before you start grilling, make sure to preheat your grill to about 400 degrees. Use the remaining olive oil to brush the grill
- Once your grill has been heated, go ahead and place the chicken breasts on the grill. Cook the chicken on one side for about four minutes, or until you get a good sear and then lower the temperature to 350 and close the lid of the grill.
- After you have cooked the chicken on one side at 350 degrees, go ahead and flip the chicken and cook for 15 minutes with the lid closed.
- To be safe, you want to make sure that your chicken is cooked to 165-170 degrees. Once your chicken has cooked to at least 165 degrees, remove from heat and allow to rest for about 5 minutes so that the juices can redistribute evenly.
- Serve your chicken with a colorful salad or side and devour it up!
As we sat down to eat and scroll through website views in google analytics on Launch Day, we were so thankful that we had jumped off the cliff and taken the website live. Devouring this chicken was an easy way to celebrate the beginning of a career in sharing our hearts with you. And a vital part of being crazy about celebration, is knowing when and how to celebrate yourself. For us, cooking and enjoying meals like this one is one of the easiest ways to party.
What about you? How do you celebrate your accomplishments and hard work?
Mary-Beth Johnson
Mary-Beth is a creative, food-obsessed, Georgia transplant living Chicago. She is proudly and fiercely Latina, and more specifically Chapina. In her day to day she is a food educator to students around Chicagoland aged 3 to 80+, both virtually and in-person. She is passionate about cultivating the truth that every person has an understanding of food that deserves being brought to the table, and that time in the kitchen can be sacred, passionate, and an act of love for self and others. Outside the kitchen you can find her at the intersections of infertility, chronic illness, and a deep love for the dignity of all humans. She hopes to create a space that is holistic about the role of food in the social, political, relational, and physiological dynamics of our world.
