Honey-Lime Chicken with Warm Black Beans and Spinach Salad

Thursday, October 22, 2009


After the last few posts, it may appear that all we ever eat at our house is junk food night and day, but I actually do cook dinner every night too. :) This meal I tried from a church cookbook was one of those meals that qualified as healthy AND good in my book. The original recipe called for salmon so I've included those instructions in here, but since my husband is very allergic to seafood I've substituted it with thinly sliced boneless skinless chicken breast tenders instead. The meat was well-flavored and tender and devoured by kids and adults alike, while the corn/bean mixture packed a little bit of a punch with the crushed red pepper and scared off the kids. Next time I will probably halve the crushed red pepper amount (or omit it) for the kids' sake.

We served this meal to a friend with vegetarian leanings and he absolutely LOVED the corn/bean salad. With the kids just wanting to eat the meat, it was a good mix for both of them!

Click here for printable recipe.


The ingredients:

4 Tbs. olive oil
1 medium red onion, diced
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional)
Juice of 2 limes
3 Tbs. honey
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
6 chicken tenders (or salmon fillets)
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 box (10-oz.) frozen corn (or can)
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 can (15-oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
2-3 Tbs. fresh cilantro, chopped
6 cups baby spinach, chopped

Preheat skillet over medium heat with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add onions, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, cumin, salt, and pepper (the spice). Saute 3 minutes. While the onions are cooking, preheat a medium skillet over med-high heat with remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. In a shallow dish or plastic bag, combine juice of 1 lime, honey, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Add chicken breasts (or salmon fillets) to lime-honey mix and toss to coat thoroughly. Add seasoned chicken/salmon to hot skillet and cook until just cooked through: 3-5 minutes on each side.

To the cooked onions, add bell peppers and corn and cook another minute.
(I decided to throw in an orange pepper too)

Add chicken stock and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Add black beans and cook until heated through. Remove skillet from heat and add juice of second lime, cilantro, and spinach. Toss to wilt spinach. Serve salmon/chicken on top of warm black bean and corn salad. Serves 6.

Enjoy!

7 comments:

Charlene October 22, 2009 at 11:22 AM  

You have some of my favorites in this recipe, limes, cilantro and red crushed peppers!! I'm excited to try another of your fabulous recipes!

Karine October 22, 2009 at 8:24 PM  

Such an amazing way to enjoy chicken! Thanks for sharing:)

teresa October 23, 2009 at 10:55 AM  

oh my gosh, this sounds incredible! i love salads like this!

terrah October 23, 2009 at 11:05 AM  

Looks delicious! Thankyou!

Deanne October 23, 2009 at 7:49 PM  

Sounds yummy! I'll have to try it.

Katy ~ October 24, 2009 at 12:15 PM  

Definitely with the chicken in my book. This sounds very good! Love the spices in this.

Kim October 24, 2009 at 11:45 PM  

This sounds like a delicious and healthy dish that the family would love. I love the colors too!

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About This Blog

My name is Lara and while I'm definitely not a gourmet cook, I do love preparing tasty, healthy meals for my family. Finding new recipes to try and sharing the ones we've already fallen in love with is a passion I've had since college and the reason why I've started this blog! With five kids, I'm usually in a hurry, so you'll find most of these recipes kid friendly and simple to make.

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