Caramelized Chicken with Garlic Rice

Here's a quick and easy dinner for you all. I found this gem on one of my favorite blogs, Jenn's food journey. Other friends of mine have suggested variations of this recipe as well, so I figured it was time that the Kitchen Witch tried it out. Boy was I glad I did!

I didn't have any honey so I used agave nectar. I liked the results, it gave sweetness and helped the sauce glaze nicely. The best way I could describe the flavor of this glaze is a sweet and sour BBQ sauce. It was really tasty and will become a staple in our household for sure!

I had to take a slight liberty with the rice dish, all I had on hand was minute rice. It worked pretty good, though I bet the flavor of a Basmati would be way better. Next time I'll use 'real' rice.

In 30 minutes I had a gorgeous piece of glazed chicken on flavorful garlic rice and steamed asparagus. Its a flavorful, healthy meal for busy days. Who doesn't love that?

Caramelized Chicken
serves 2-3
2 chicken breasts boneless skinless
3 T ketchup
2 T soy sauce
2 T agave nectar (could use 3T honey)
1/2 t hot sauce (Franks Red Hot)
S&P

Mix the everything but the chicken and S&P in a small sauce pan. Stir it all together, bring to a boil - boil for 1 minute and remove sauce to a small bowl.

Spray a baking pan (I used an 8x8 pan). Place chicken breasts in the pan and pour 1/2 the sauce over top. Put into a 375 oven and cook 15 min.

After 15 min of cooking, spread remaining half of sauce over chicken and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 160* F. (I had to add about 1/4 c water to the pan here as well, my sauce was starting to burn, I blame the cooking vessel)

Remove from oven, allow to rest 5 minutes before serving with garlic rice. Spoon any remaining glaze over chicken.



Garlic Rice
makes 2-3 servings
1 cup instant white rice
1 cup water
1 T butter
1 t EVOO
2 cloves garlic minced
kosher salt

Heat butter and oil in a small sauce pan. Once hot add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Add rice, stirring well to coat each grain with oil. Cook rice about 2 minutes then add the water. Bring to a boil, once it boils remove from heat, cover and allow to sit 5 min. Fluff with fork before serving.



Nutrition Facts Caramelized Chicken provided by SparkPeople Recipe Calculator
2 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 360.3
Total Fat 2.9 g
Saturated Fat 0.8 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.7 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.7 g
Cholesterol 136.9 mg
Sodium 1,370.6 mg
Potassium 642.5 mg
Total Carbohydrate 23.7 g
Dietary Fiber 1.2 g
Sugars 21.3 g
Protein 55.6 g

Nutrition Facts Garlic Rice
3 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 83.6
Total Fat 0.1 g
Saturated Fat 0.0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 52.0 mg
Potassium 26.0 mg
Total Carbohydrate 18.4 g
Dietary Fiber 0.2 g
Sugars 0.0 g

Protein 1.6 g