The new year has arrived, and you have survived another holiday season. The parties, the family get-togethers, the feasts, treats, and evenings of excess. It’s resolution time: time to cleanse and purge and make an attempt to drop those extra pounds that mysteriously appeared last month.
But this requires effort, exercise, and eating right. That means denial of all that is tasty in favor of light, low-calorie fare, right? Not necessarily. One way to indulge your taste buds while still watching the calories is to enjoy — yes, I said enjoy — the ubiquitous boneless chicken breast.
The chicken breast has been much maligned, and in some cases rightfully so. The No. 1 complaint is that chicken breasts are dry, stringy, and tasteless. If this is the case, the responsibility falls squarely on “operator error”! Just because chicken needs to be cooked to 165 degrees doesn’t mean you can continue to keep cooking it — au contraire. That’s the temperature at which it should be removed from the heat source. If you are diligent about this, your chicken breast will be moist and tender.
The other knock on chicken breasts is that they are tasteless, and on this I will agree. To make the breast meat palatable, there are a plethora of marinades, seasoning blends, and sauces to elevate the flavor of the lowly chicken breast and raise its status to star of the dinner plate. Here is an idea to add flavor to your dinner without adding a ton of calories, which, admittedly, do come with the tasty cream sauces. It’s a testament to the truth that culinary excellence doesn’t need to be complicated!
Ingredients
- Boneless, skinless chicken breasts (allow 6-8 oz. raw weight per person)
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1 Tbsp. per portion Hoss’s Southwest Seasoning
Directions
- If the breasts are thick, butterfly them first. This will allow the marinade to permeate the meat more thoroughly and allow them to cook evenly on the grill, avoiding the possibility of the breasts getting overdone, dry, and stringy on the exterior.
- Mix the soy sauce, lime juice, and Southwest Seasoning, then place the chicken breasts and marinade in a ziplock bag large enough to hold the chicken with little space to spare. Let the chicken marinate at room temperature for up to 2 hours or in the refrigerator 2 hours to overnight.
- Grill over moderate heat until meat in the thickest part is 165 degrees. Let rest, cut into strips, and enjoy with your favorite fajita or taco/burrito toppings.
For a little different flavor profile, before removing the chicken from the grill, brush it with Thai sweet chili sauce (mae ploy), which is available in any Asian market and some grocery stores. Serve with fried rice or Asian noodles.
