Chicken Be Quick

The speed with which chicken breast cooks has made it a staple in one- and two-person households. Unfortunately, what it offers in convenience, it lacks in flavor. But you can also find a chicken cut that is just as quick cooking and twice as tasty. It’s boneless, skinless chicken thighs.

Chicken thigh meat is marvelous in a stew. Onions, garlic and spices bring out its natural rich flavor. To demonstrate, the following dish combines chicken thighs and chorizo in a variation of picadillo, a Mexican ground beef dish. It is sweet, pungent and zesty. Team it with jicama and spinach salad.

CHICKEN WITH CHORIZO

1 small sweet red pepper

1 jalapeno chili

1/4 pound chorizo

2 tablespoons dark raisins

3/4 cup boiling chicken broth

1 tablespoon oil

1 small onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 medium cinnamon stick

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

2 large or 4 small skinless, boneless chicken thighs

1/2 cup canned tomato puree

Freshly ground black pepper

Cooked rice

Core and seed sweet pepper and jalapeno. Dice sweet pepper; mince jalapeno. Slice chorizo. Soak raisins in boiling chicken broth in heat-proof bowl 10 minutes.

Heat oil in large skillet. Add sweet red pepper, jalapeno, onion, garlic, cinnamon stick and cumin, and saute 5 minutes. Add chicken thighs and saute over medium heat 5 minutes. Add chorizo and brown. Pour off fat. Remove cinnamon stick.

Increase heat to high and add raisins and chicken broth, stirring to scrape up browned bits. Cook until liquid is reduced by half. Add tomato puree. Reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes. Season to taste with pepper. Serve over hot cooked rice.

Makes 2 servings.