Monday Recipe Review

Another one from Cooking Light. It looks delicious; and in these times of stretching a buck til' it squeaks, skinless boneless chicken thighs are just what my wallet ordered. For under $20, I can get a Costco multi-pack of 6, each containing about 5 thighs.


Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken Thighs

Photo: Randy Mayor; Styling: Jan Gautro

Photo from Cooking Light

Yield
4 servings (serving size: 2 chicken thighs)

Ingredients
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
Cooking spray
6 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons cider vinegar

Preparation
Preheat broiler.
Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken to bowl; toss to coat. Place chicken on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil chicken 5 minutes on each side.
Combine honey and vinegar in a small bowl, stirring well. Remove chicken from oven; brush 1/4 cup honey mixture on chicken. Broil 1 minute. Remove chicken from oven and turn over. Brush chicken with remaining honey mixture. Broil 1 additional minute or until chicken is done.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 321 (31% from fat)
Fat: 11g (sat 3g,mono 4.1g,poly 2.5g)
Protein: 28g
Carbohydrate: 27.9g
Fiber: 0.6g
Cholesterol: 99mg
Iron: 2.1mg
Sodium: 676mg
Calcium: 21mg

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I liked this ok... just ok. The spice combination, when I whisked it together in a bowl, was so potent I hacked and sneezed for a good few minutes - and I'm not a person susceptible to allergies or sneezing fits. I found the flavor rub slightly overpowering. Ok - not slightly. Extremely. Maybe they're using old, cheap spices at Cooking Light and theirs didn't turn out quite so... obnoxious. I like spicy food, but I think it could easily have done with half the paprika, cumin and especially chili powder. Too much. The finish of the honey glaze tempers it a little, but not enough. For someone who likes their food extremely smoky/spicy... the spice combination listed above might be good. I would choose to halve some of the spices or sprinkle it more lightly on the chicken, rather than dredge it in the mixture as the recipe suggested. On the bright side, the chicken thighs turned out perfectly juicy.

My suggestion would be to modify the spice mixture a little. If you're not willing to do that, serve this with a glass of milk and a side of plain white rice. And the blandest vegetable you can muster.