Honey Glaze Chicken Breasts with Kick

Summer is right around the corner. And one of our favorite parts of the season? Grilling. 

Grilled steaks, grilled chops, kebabs, veggies, fruit, fish...everything tastes better on the grill. It's a healthy way to prepare your meals, with only a little oil, fresh herbs and spices for flavor instead of heavy oils and butter. Having quick + easy recipes in your arsenal for the coming season makes meal time easy and delicious, while also giving you great make-ahead protein-rich dishes that can become an integral part of your meal-planning for the week. 

Today's recipe, for a sweet and spicy chicken breast is exactly that. Succulent and juicy right off the grill, this chicken is also great cold on salads and re-heated throughout the week for lunches. Slice a grilled breast up and put it in a wrap, or throw it in a skillet with some vegetables. However you enjoy this dish, it tastes as good on the 3rd day as it does on the first and its simple ingredients, low fat, and high protein content makes it perfect for an athlete's diet. 

Spicy + Sweet Glazed Chicken breasts

Gather:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp hot pepper sauce of choice
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp lemon juice
8 skinless, boneless chicken breasts 
Salt to taste
1 pineapple peeled + cored--cut into about 8 rings

Method:

1. In a small saucepan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil on medium heat. Add  onion and garlic and cook until translucent and beginning to brown,stirring all the while. Add  honey, hot pepper sauce of choice and the chili powder.  Simmer for about 1 minute. Remove mixture from  heat,  and stir in the lemon juice. Set aside.

2. Preheat a grill to medium-high. Rub  chicken with the remaining 3 tablespoons  oil and season with salt. Place breasts on grill, and cook until well marked,  probably about 7 minutes. Flip around and continue to grill  until the bottoms are well marked and the chicken is cooked through, about another 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate and brush with the  honey glaze. Cover with foil and let rest for 5 minutes.

3. While chicken is resting, grill pineapple rings for about 4 minutes on one side, and an additional two on the other. Serve with chicken.

There you have it. An easy summer recipe to add to your rotation for the coming warm weather.

Be fit! See you back here next week with another healthy recipe! 

Spicy Honey-Glazed Chicken

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The heat is on down here in Texas. Plenty of sweaty days by the pool, and even sweatier days at the gym. This kind of weather just screams: "GRILL SOMETHING!" But, instead of the boring staples of hamburgers and hot-dogs, the next few weeks we have some delicious, easy grill recipes to keep your body trim and your stomach filled. 

Chicken is one of the top choices for grilling because it picks up the flavors of the marinade really well, it's full of protein and it doesn't take long to cook. (Just make sure there's no pink left inside, or else someone is going to the hospital.)

For today's recipe, we take a little sweetness, add a little spiciness and serve it up with some grilled pineapple and peaches for a full serving of fruit.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1/2 cup honey (preferably local!)

2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce (like sriracha)

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon lemon juice (from fresh lemon)

8 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 4 pounds)

Salt

Method:

-Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic until clear, and beginning to brown ~6-7 minutes. Add honey, hot sauce and chili powder and allow to simmer for one minute. After removing from heat, stir in lemon juice, set aside and allow to cool. 

-Heat grill to medium, and rub chicken with remaining olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Grill until well marked, ~7 minutes, flip and grill for an additional 1-2 minutes. Place chicken on plate and brush with the honey glaze. Cover chicken with foil and allow to rest for 5-7 minutes.

-Grill pineapple and peaches until well marked on both sides, approximately 4 minutes on the first side, 2 minutes on the reverse. 

-Serve fruit with chicken. 

Try out this easy, tasty recipe on your next pool day, out in the backyard, or just after a hard workout. Enjoy and eat well!