I’ve become a big fan of marinades and things I can cook in the crock pot, mostly because I’ve found that I’m way more motivated to cook late at night, long after dinner, or late morning, long before dinner. Evenings and late afternoons I’m either still winding down from school or work or focused on homework. I absolutely adore my job, but getting 3 and 4 year olds to sit and focus on three to four hours of IQ tests can be very draining.

My boyfriend, Eric, and I are huge fans of Mexican food. Seriously, we eat it probably 3 times a week. This recipe for oven roasted Mexican chicken which I adapted from Crepes of Wrath is a bit different (and more healthy) than the usual tacos with beans and rice meal, and it’s still super good even if it’s not covered in cheese. When I was home last, my mom made a really good corn side dish that was super spicy, and I thought it would taste great paired with this chicken.

I might get a lot of flack from foodies about this, but I recently bought a tube (yes, a tube) of Gourmet Garden’s cilantro. I HATE buying herbs or vegetables that I don’t use often and come in large bunches, because it always ends up going bad and I feel like I’ve wasted my money. This stuff I can keep in the fridge for a super long time, it’s organic, it’s fresh, and it tastes great. It’s not like it’s artificial cilantro. Go ahead, try it. They’ve got quite a few other herbs, too.

Alright, to make the marinade for the chicken, combine hot sauce (I like Tapatio), pepper, kosher salt, Italian seasoning, cilantro, ground mustard, chili pepper, Worcestershire sauce, olive oil, lime juice, red wine vinegar, and garlic in a plastic bag. Mine is shown in a Tupperware container because I was out of the gallon sized bags, and didn’t want to go to the store to get some :).

I like to trim all the fat off of my chicken breasts and then cut them in half before marinading, so that more of that great flavor covers more surface area. Add the breasts to the bag/container and give it a good shake so the breasts are coated in the marinade. Let sit for 1-24 hours. I would usually make it all the night before, but mine ended up only sitting about seven hours and it was still great.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with tin foil. Place a wire rack on the cookie sheet and lay the breasts on it. I also spooned a lot of the marinade onto the breasts. I was going to roast some potatoes on there, too, but Eric begged for mashed so I caved. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

While that was cooking, I made the spicy corn. In a skillet, saute some onions in olive oil. Add chopped jalapeno and saute until a little soft. I added a whole jalapeno and it was honestly too much for me- next time I’ll do half.

Add corn and cook until heated, and lastly add sweet hot chili sauce and cilantro.

Yum. You might also consider serving this with homemade Mexican rice 🙂

Recipes!

Oven Roasted Mexican Chicken
Modified from Crepes of Wrath

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, fat trimmed and sliced in half if you like
1/2 tsp hot sauce
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp cilantro
1/4 cup olive oil
juice of 1 lime
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp red wine vinegar

Combine all of the ingredients, except the chicken, in a plastic bag or Tupperware container and stir or shake until combined. Add the chicken. Allow to sit in the fridge for 1 to 24 hours. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and place the chicken on a wire rack over a baking sheet (preferably covered in tin foil to prevent the juices from burning to your baking sheet). Bake for 30-40 minutes, until cooked through and the juices of the chicken run clear. Cover with foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

Spicy Corn

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 can corn
1/2 (or a whole if you’re brave) jalapeno pepper finely chopped
1/4 of an onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp sweet hot chili sauce
1 tsp cilantro

Directions
Saute onion in olive oil for a few minutes. Add jalapeno and saute for another minute or so.  Add corn and stir. Cook until heated through, add sweet hot chili sauce.  Simmer for 5-10 minutes.