Honey-Lime Chicken with Warm Black Beans and Spinach Salad

After the last few posts, it may appear that all we ever eat at our house is junk food night and day, but I actually do cook dinner every night too. :) This meal I tried from a church cookbook was one of those meals that qualified as healthy AND good in my book. The original recipe called for salmon so I've included those instructions in here, but since my husband is very allergic to seafood I've substituted it with thinly sliced boneless skinless chicken breast tenders instead. The meat was well-flavored and tender and devoured by kids and adults alike, while the corn/bean mixture packed a little bit of a punch with the crushed red pepper and scared off the kids. Next time I will probably halve the crushed red pepper amount (or omit it) for the kids' sake.

We served this meal to a friend with vegetarian leanings and he absolutely LOVED the corn/bean salad. With the kids just wanting to eat the meat, it was a good mix for both of them!

Click here for printable recipe.

The ingredients:

4 Tbs. olive oil

1 medium red onion, diced

2 large garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional)

Juice of 2 limes

3 Tbs. honey

1 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. cumin

6 chicken tenders (or salmon fillets)

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 box (10-oz.) frozen corn (or can)

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 can (15-oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained

2-3 Tbs. fresh cilantro, chopped

6 cups baby spinach, chopped

Preheat skillet over medium heat with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add onions, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, cumin, salt, and pepper (the spice). Saute 3 minutes. While the onions are cooking, preheat a medium skillet over med-high heat with remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. In a shallow dish or plastic bag, combine juice of 1 lime, honey, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Add chicken breasts (or salmon fillets) to lime-honey mix and toss to coat thoroughly. Add seasoned chicken/salmon to hot skillet and cook until just cooked through: 3-5 minutes on each side.

To the cooked onions, add bell peppers and corn and cook another minute.

(I decided to throw in an orange pepper too)

Add chicken stock and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Add black beans and cook until heated through. Remove skillet from heat and add juice of second lime, cilantro, and spinach. Toss to wilt spinach. Serve salmon/chicken on top of warm black bean and corn salad. Serves 6.

Enjoy!