Honey-and-Spice-Glazed Chicken

You know that feeling when you open a refrigerator and you’re like “Uhm, what the hell am I going to eat tonight?”
To me that happens a lot. Which is sort of weird because I love to eat, I love to cook, and I love food.
Now that I think about it, it’s actually super weird being that I run a food blog.
Anyways, that question inevitably comes up more often than I would like to admit.
The game changer I've realized, is having chicken breasts ready (either fresh or frozen).
There's really not much one CAN’T do with chicken breasts. Grill them, bake them, fry them, shishkabob them, make fajitas, stir-fry, slow cook & pull the meat apart for burrito/taco filling, braise them.
Pretty much the only thing you can't do with a chicken breast is eat it raw or treat it like a roast. It's a versatile, almost characterless chunk of protein.
I never look at a chicken breast and ask myself “what can I do with this?"; instead I decide what I want to eat and then ask myself "how would I work chicken into this?"

The other night I was craving something spicy and sweet, so I marinated a chicken breast with some honey, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, paprika, and cayenne pepper.
What I got was a flavor explosion.
The chicken was perfectly seasoned, slightly spicy and had just the right amount of sticky honey sweetness. It made for a totally different kind of chicken.
The best part is that the meal only took a short time to cook because it was popped in the oven to finish cooking.

This is a super simple glazed-to-perfection chicken that will totally surprise you with flavor.
It’s great because I’m sure you have all the ingredients in your cupboard already.
The cayenne pepper and Dijon mustard add a bit of heat which is tempered by sweet honey; but feel free to increase or decrease the amount of cayenne pepper to your taste.
This is a total winner. Trust.

Honey-and-Spice-Glazed Chicken                                                                                                       Print this recipe!
Adapted from Food&Wine

Ingredients
Serves 4

4 free-range organic chicken breasts, sliced
4 tablespoons raw organic honey
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 ½ teaspoons sweet paprika
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
Ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C) and place a rack in the middle.
In a small bowl stir together honey, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, mustard, paprika, cayenne pepper, and salt.
Put the chicken in a shallow bowl (or Ziploc bag), add marinade, cover (or seal) and marinate for at least 10 minutes (marinate overnight for fullest flavor).
Heat an ovenproof skillet over medium heat, add the chicken and fry for 3 minutes on each side until golden.
Transfer to the oven and cook for about 8 to 10 minutes until cooked through and sticky.
Slice the chicken, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve, along with any pan juices.

Nutrition facts

One serving yields 238 calories, 12 grams of fat, 6 grams of carbs, and 31 grams of protein.