Chicken

Grilled BBQ Beer Chicken and Apricot Flatbreads

18.06.2014 9 Comments

Let’s say you and I get into it over pizza. We hash it out over the best pizza we’ve ever had. We talk about Naples, and LA, and both agree that New York beats Chicago, unless you want a casserole, then Chicago pizza will do.

And then I tell you that the best Ray’s pizza in New York is the one at 4th and Houston, to which (if you’re a New Yorker) you recoiler in horror that I’ve chosen said Ray’s instead of one of the 147 other Ray’s in Manhattan.

We finally just agree to get a beer and pizza and call it a day. Nowhere in our spirited conversation do we mention Seattle. Because the thing about Seattle is that beer is world class, so is the coffee and the produce can’t be beat, but the pizza…

We’ll just talk about the beer and the coffee and the produce and leave talk of the pizza out of it shall we? Similar to a discussion of the best people in the world named Joe wouldn’t include talk of either Buttafuoco or Francis. Let’s just stick to the good stuff.

Of course I have a theory about this. The same water that makes the beer fantastic and coffee legendary isn’t so kind with the pizza dough. But here is the thing about baking your pizza dough with beer, wherever you go in the world, your dough will be the same.

Water is for the weak, switch to beer and your pizza dough will become the stuff of folklore.

It might even be brought up in the New York vs Chicago debate.

Grilled BBQ Beer Chicken and Apricot Flatbreads

Print Recipe

Servings 4 (6-inch) flatbreads

Ingredients

Crust:

1 ½ cups flour
1 1/8 tsp rapid rise yeast
1 tsp sugar
½ cup wheat beer or pale ale
2 tbs oil
½ tsp salt

Chicken:

2 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 cup wheat beer or pale ale
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp smoked paprika
¼ tsp chili powder
¼ tsp cumin
¼ tsp salt
oil for the grill

Topping:

Stout and Sriracha BBQ Sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
¼ tsp cilantro chopped
2 apricots thinly sliced
¼ cup red onion chopped

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, add the flour, yeast and sugar. Mix until combined.
In a microwave safe bowl add the beer. Microwave on high for 20 seconds, test temperature with a cooking thermometer and repeat until temperature reaches between 120 and 125 degrees Fahrenheit.
Add the beer to the stand mixer and mix on medium speed. Once most of the dough has been moistened, add the oil and salt while the mixer is still running.
Turn speed to high and beat until dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl, tightly wrap with plastic wrap. Allow to sit in a warm room until doubled in size, about 45 to 60 minutes.
Remove from bowl and add to a lightly floured surface. Knead several times, cut into 4 equal sized pieces. Form each piece into 6 inch circles.
While the dough is rising, make the chicken. Place the chicken in a bowl, cover with 1 cup beer. Chill for 30 to 60 minutes. Remove from beer, rinse and pat dry.
Preheat the grill.
In a small bowl combine the onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, chili powder, cumin and salt.
Sprinkle chicken on all sides with spice mixture.
Grill chicken until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.
Remove from grill, slice.
Oil the grill (alternately, you can oil the flatbreads). Grill one side of the flatbread until grill marks appear, about 2 minutes, flip and very lightly grill the other side, about 30 seconds, remove from grill. Place the flatbreads on a flat surface with the well grilled side facing up. Top with barbeque sauce, cheese, chicken, sliced apricots, cilantro, and onions. Place back on the grill, close over, cook until cheese has melted.

My recipe for Stout & Sriracha BBQ Sauce, you have to make it.

Apricot Sriracha IPA Chicken and Session IPA’s for Summer

26.05.2014 9 Comments

For what seems like decades brewers have been involved in a bit of an ABV arms race to see who can bring to the table the IPA with highest alcohol content. The Top That ABV Game seems to be waining in favor of the Full Flavor Session IPA game, to the relief of lightweights across the land.

Now that summer is around the corner and long days of eating Hot Meat off the grill and drinking all day, session beers are more important. A session beer is a beer with low alcohol that you can spend a "long drinking session" consuming without becoming a cautionary tale. Mostly, these are beers that have less than 5% alcohol by volume (ABV).

Although a low ABV session beer becomes an important part of not becoming an unintended YouTube sensation with drunk antics, we also want to continue to perpetuate our status as the Craft Beer Queen, so "lite" beer won’t be considered. Session IPA’s are what we go to. The hops we want, the low alcohol that keeps us functional all day.

Here are some to seek out. This isn’t a "top ten"list, or a "best of" list. It’s just a list. A list of great session IPA’s to seek out when you want to drink all day without embarrassing yourself. If you have a session IPA you love, let me know.

Founders: All Day IPA ABV 4.7%

Lagunitas Brewing: Day Time IPA 4.65%

Stone Brewing: Go To IPA 4.5%

Fort George Brewery: Suicide Squeeze 4.5%

Sierra Nevada: Nooner Session IPA 4.8%

Firestone Walker: Brewing: Easy Jack IPA 4.5%

Southern Tier: Farmer’s Tan IPA 4.6%

Pizza Port Brewing: Ponto S.I.P.A. 4.5%

Apricot Sriracha IPA Chicken

Print Recipe

Prep Time 20

Total Time 20

Ingredients

1 lb very ripe apricots pitted
1/3 cup IPA beer
1 tsp sririacha
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 lb chicken thighs
salt and pepper
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs chopped shallots
3 tbs chopped flat leaf parsley

Instructions

In a food processor or blender add the apricots, IPA, sriracha, cornstarch, and balsamic, blend until smooth.
Salt and pepper the chicken thighs on all sides,.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat.
Sear the chicken breasts on both sides. Add the shallots, stir until shallots have softened.
Add the apricot mixture, reduce heat to a low simmer, simmer until sauce has thickened and chicken is cooked through, about 8 minutes.
Remove from heat, sprinkle with parsley.

Notes

This recipe needs fully ripe, sweet apricots. If you use under-ripe apricots, the dish will be overly sour. If you don't have over ripe (almost mushy) apricots, add 2 tbs honey to combat the bitterness.

Yogurt and Beer Marinated Chicken Skewers

21.04.2014 15 Comments

I’ve decided that the grill is officially open. Regardless of the weather, regardless of the time constraints, regardless of the lack of Meats on Sticks occasions in my near future. The grill needs to be open. Maybe it’s the catastrophic levels of stress in my life right now, maybe it’s my severe vitamin D deficiency since leaving Southern California, or maybe the grill should never be closed at all.

There’s a therapeutic quality to the first grilled food of the season. That delicious char you’d almost forgotten about. Cooking in the great wide open with sun on your face, beer in one hand, ridiculously oversized tongs in the other. And the realization that winter has passed. It all adds up to one of the most satisfying meals of the year.

Although I am considering not closing the grill at all next winter, but I’ll report back to you once the snow hits.

Yogurt and Beer Marinated Chicken Skewers

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup plain Greek yogurt
½ cup pale ale
1 tsp dried crushed red peppers
1 ½ tsp sweet smoked paprika or 1 tsp sweet and ½ tsp smoked paprika
2 tbs tomato paste
2 tsp kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 large garlic cloves grated with a microplane
2 1/4 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs or breast, cut into cubes
vegetable oil for the grill
2 tbs chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

In a large bowl stir together the yogurt, beer, red pepper, paprika, tomato paste, salt, pepper, and garlic. Add the chicken cubes, stir until fully submerged and coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 24.
Preheat grill to medium high.
Remove chicken from marinate and thread onto metal skewers (or presoaked wood skewers), discard marinade.
Brush the grill with oil to prevent sticking.
Grill the chicken skewers on each side until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.
Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving, if desired.

Chicken and Beer Cheese Stuffed Poblano

16.04.2014 7 Comments

When I was 19 I thought it was a great idea to drive a 20-year-old Ford Bronco nearly the entire length of the 5 Freeway to be my primary means of transportation.

Slow, old, unreliable, often ticketed, frequently towed, it didn’t end well. I was broke and had barely enough money to fill the gas tank, let alone maintain it. Which lead to finding creative ways to deal with the mechanical issues that arose. When one of my headlights went out, I discovered that the brights still worked just fine. So I never turned them off.

Late one night, headed to Hollywood on the 101 I was behind a well cared for vintage Cadillac, my brights reflecting off his rear view mirror. He slams on his breaks, skids slightly towards the median. I do the same. Luckily the breaks on the Bronco were still going strong and I stop inches from his bumper.

In the middle of late night Los Angeles on the far left lane of the freeway, he gets out of his car and heads toward my door, cars whizzing past us at 70 miles per hour. I was too close to him to drive around, just inches from his bumper. As he gets closer I can see he is still wearing dark sunglasses, the stems tucked under his red dew rag. I can’t see his eyes.

He walks to my window and motions for me to roll it down. As I crank the window down, heart racing blood pumping in my ears, he pushes his black and white plaid shirt back, just the top button is buttoned, the rest open. He puts his hands in the pockets of his black Dickies pants and I can see his white tank top and the butt of silver pistol in the waist band of his pants. I know instantly that he wants me to see it.

Photo via The Beeroness on Instagram

"Your brights" he says, swaying slightly so that I can see the light reflect off his gun. "They are on."

"Yeah. I’m sorry…" I don’t know what else to say.

"You need to turn them off."

"Ok." I’m frozen. I can’t move.

"Now. Turn them off now."

"Ok. Yeah." I’m shaking. I reach up and switch them off, my left headlight going dim completely.

"Thank you. Have a nice evening." He waits a beat before smiling, covering the gun and walking back to his car.

Nothing really happened, but I was shaken. I immediately got off the freeway and stopped at a roadside taco stand to catch my breath. And I asked the lady behind the counter the question I always ask at a new place, "What do you eat?" She said she eats the stuffed peppers. They aren’t on the menu, but she’d make them for me. I was grateful. I never ended up making it to The Troubadour that night, but those stuffed peppers were worth it.

Chicken and Beer Cheese Stuffed Anaheim Chilies

Print Recipe

Ingredients

5 wt oz shredded sharp cheddar (about 2 cups)
3 tbs cornstarch
¼ cup sour cream
1 cup red ale or malty pale ale
2 large chicken thighs cut into small cubes
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp salt
½ white onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
2 large Roma tomatoes diced
¼ cup diced green onions
4 large Poblano Chilies

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400.
In a blender or food processor add the cheese, cornstarch, sour cream, and beer. Process until smooth, set aside.
Sprinkle the chicken cubes with chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, and salt, toss until well coated.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion, cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic.
Add the chicken, cook until browned on all sides.
Pour in the cheese sauce, simmer until thickened, remove from heat, stir in the tomatoes and green onions.
Cut the stem off the chilies, remove the seeds inside. Spoon the chicken and cheese mixture into the peppers.
Place upright in oven safe coffee mugs, place coffee mugs on a baking sheet.
Bake at 400 for 15-18 minutes or until peppers have softened.

Orange Chili Porter Glazed Skillet Chicken

09.04.2014 4 Comments

I know the google stalking that goes on. But don’t think it’s one sided. I see the key word searches, or the things you post about me on Facebook, but I do the same thing.

I’ve clicked over to your page too, seen the vacation photos and the fact that you also have a mild obsession with Bill Withers too, and I’ve wondered if we’d be friends in real life. I’ve clicked over to your Pinterest page after you’ve re-pinned one of my pins and thought we could hang out. Have some beers and talk about those rustic modern houses we love but will probably never have. Or the make up tutorials that we will never even attempt.

The breweries we’ve been to and the ones still on our lists. The places we’ve been, the place we want to go and the places we wished we’d skipped. We would laugh and talk and share some beer, if we knew each other in real life. I’d tell you all the things I’m afraid to type out loud and you’d understand.

Because beer people are that way. We like each other, we get along and we root for each other. If only we knew each other in real life, we’d each pick up a round of pints and hang out in person. Beer does that, it seems to level the playing field and make us all friends.

Long live beer people.

Orange Chili Porter Glazed Skillet Chicken

Print Recipe

Ingredients

2 cloves garlic grated with a microplane
1 cup fresh orange juice about 3 large naval or cara cara oranges
2 tbs soy sauce
½ tsp red chili sauce such as sriracha
1 tsp red chili flake
¼ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp onion powder
1/3 cup brown sugar
½ cup porter
1 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs 4-6 large
salt and pepper
Rice for serving

Instructions

In a medium bowl whisk together the garlic, orange juice, soy sauce, red chili sauce, red chili flake, smoked paprika, onion powder, brown sugar and porter.
Sprinkle the chicken thighs on all sides with salt and pepper.
Add chicken to the marinade, cover and chill for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours.
Preheat oven to 400.
Pour the chicken and the marinade into a cast iron skillet.
Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Turn chicken over and continue to bake until cooked through, about 15 additional minutes.
Remove chicken from the skillet and transfer to a serving platter.
Place the skillet and the marinade over high heat, stirring occasionally, until reduced and thickened. Pour glaze over chicken before serving.
Note: if you don’t own a cast iron skillet, pour the chicken and marinade into a baking dish. Once the chicken is cooked through, pour marinade into a pot and cook until reduced to a glaze.
Note: If glaze becomes too thick and sticky, return to heat, stirring in a few splashes of beer to thin.

Coconut Curry Belgian Ale Chicken

31.03.2014 16 Comments

This blog has always been about pushing craft beer forward. The importance of the flavors that come with good beer, and how to explore those in a new way. From the beginning you got that and you stood next to me, exposing people to craft beer through food by sharing the recipes I’ve posted.

And today, we got a win. Just hours ago Saveur, a leader in field of culinary exploration, announced the finalist for the Best Food Blog Awards. Out of the 1.3 million food blogs world wide, The Beeroness was nominated along with just 5 others as one of the Best Original Recipe Blogs.

That’s us. You, me, good food and great beer. It’s a huge step when it comes to showing the world how important good beer is. It’s a huge indicator that "cooking with beer" is no longer seen as beer can chicken made with a pale macro lager. It’s important flavors and practical applications. It’s us pushing beer onto the same playing field as wine.

Let’s show people that craft beer is a culinary force to be reckoned with.

Vote for The Beeroness for The Best Original Recipes in the Saveur Food Blog Awards. It takes about a minute to register before you can vote. It’s a vote for craft beer, and what it does to food. It’s a way to show people who dynamic beer can be.

Coconut Curry Belgian Ale Chicken

Print Recipe

Ingredients

2 tbs olive oil
½ cup chopped white onions
4 large bonesless skinless chicken thighs cut into small cubes
½ cup Belgian ale
13.5 fl oz coconut milk
3 tbs thai red curry paste
1 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs lime juice
pinch cayenne pepper
¼ cup cilantro chopped
3 tbs roasted peanuts chopped
Rice or Rice noodles for serving

Instructions

In a large skillet or wok heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onions and sauté until soft and slightly brown, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken, cooking until browned on all sides.
Add the beer, scraping to deglaze the pan.
Lower the heat, add the coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce, lime juice and cayenne pepper. Simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.
Serve over rice or rice noodles, garnish with cilantro and peanuts just prior to serving.

Roasted Duck Legs with Porter Cherry Sauce

19.03.2014 3 Comments

I didn’t grow up in a cooking household. With two working parents and seven sisters it was more of a defrost and feed the masses situation. It was culinary triage every day.

I never saw a head of garlic, or a homemade cake, or real whipped cream my entire childhood. The focus was on feeding the herd of people who lived at my house, while still trying to pay the bills. Homemade fancy sunday supper wasn’t at the top of that hierarchy of needs.

Which is why meals like this mean so much to me. Being able to throw my figurative heart and soul into a meal, take a few hours doing it, and serve it to people I care about. Even if it’s on a Tuesday night.

Especially if it’s on a Tuesday night.

Roasted Duck Legs with Porter Cherry Sauce

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Ingredients

¼ cup rendered duck fat can sub olive oil, divided
4 duck legs skin on
salt and pepper
¼ cup chopped shallots
3 cloves garlic grated with a microplane
½ cup porter beer
10 wt oz 1 ½ cupsdark sweet cherries, fresh or frozen (such as bing)
¼ tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbs honey

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375.
Heat 2 tablespoons duck fat (or olive oil) in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat.
Sprinkle the duck skin with salt and pepper.
Place the duck legs into the hot pan, skin side down, cook until skin has browned, about 6 minutes. Flip the duck legs overs.
Place the cast iron skillet in the oven for 1 ½ to 2 hours or until the duck reaches 165F degrees. (If you don’t have a large enough cast iron skillet, just brown the duck legs and then transfer them, skin side up, to a baking dish). You can reduce the oven to 200 and keep the duck in the oven until ready to serve for up to 1 hour. To crisp the skin back up (of it becomes soft in the oven), preheat the broiler and place the duck under the broiler for a few minutes, keeping a very close eye to make sure the duck doesn’t burn.
While the duck is cooking make the cherry sauce. In a pot over medium high heat add the remaining 2 tablespoons duck fat. Add the shallots and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic. Add the porter, cherries, smoked paprika, black pepper and honey. Allow to boil, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 8 minutes.
Spoon the sauce over the duck just prior to serving, or serve alongside.

I use this Duck Fat (affiliate link) because it’s well priced and good quality. A little goes a long way so one jar will last a while. Also, if you cook duck in duck fat, you can save the rendered fat for later use. Like these potatoes, or this Duck Confit.

I also use this Microplane (affiliate link) all the time. Perfect for grating garlic in seconds, much easier than mincing with a knife.

Chicken Thighs with Rosemary Tomato Beer Sauce

18.02.2014 14 Comments

In high school I had a guidance councilor ask me what I thought I would be when I grew up. Not "what do you want to be" but "what do you think you will be," much different questions for a kid, and much more accurate window into the future.

I thought about it for a minute. What do I think I will be? I thought about the way I normally answer the question when it’s phrased the other way, I wanted to be a veterinarian. I wanted to help sick animals. But when I was asked where I thought I’d end up, it made me realize that I didn’t even believe that I’d end up as a vet.

I paused for a minute and said I thought I’d have a job that wasn’t invented yet, "You know, something that isn’t included in those check boxes in those forms," was my response. Non-comital, vague, but for the first time, I actually believed my response. He wasn’t so sure. He leaned back in his old wheeled desk chair and looked at me like I was a genuine crazy person.

"Hasn’t been invented? There are jobs that haven’t been invented? Like a robot mechanic?"

Now I got to look at him like he was the genuine crazy person, "I’m pretty sure that robot mechanic exists. And I think the world is changing enough that there are jobs that aren’t invented yet." He quickly dismissed me, apparently I had reached the maximum level of guidance that he had for the day.

I thought about this today, as I was being filmed for a feature-length documentary about the craft beer industry. Among other titles that I hold, I’m a food blogger. A job that had not been invented was I was a freshman in high school. A job that I couldn’t be happier to do. After years of forcing myself into the check boxes on the high school guidance counselors forms, there is an absolute freedom in breaking away from that. A freedom in inventing my own job, and working tirelessly to make it happen.

It took me too many years to chase this dream, and the change happened years after I left that cluttered office in the last semester of my first year of high school.

The change happened when I stopped asking, "Who am I to want a job like that?" and starting asking, "Why not me?"

Chicken Thighs with Rosemary Tomato Beer Sauce

Print Recipe

Total Time 20

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

2 tbs olive oil
4 chicken thighs bone in and skin on
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 cup chopped red onions about ½ a large onion
3 garlic cloves minced
1/2 cup wheat beer
1 14.5 wt oz can diced tomato
1 tbs minced fresh rosemary
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
Chopped parsley or chives for garnish optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400.
In a cast iron skillet over medium high heat, add the olive oil until hot but not smoking.
Sprinkle the skin of the chicken thighs with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Place in a skillet, skin side down until skin has browned and fat has rendered, about ten minutes. Turn over and cook until the bottom has browned.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Transfer chicken to baking sheet, place in oven until sauce is ready, about 10 minutes.
Add the onions to the skillet and cook until browned, about 3 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the beer, scraping to deglaze the pan. Cook until slightly reduced about 2 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, rosemary, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes.
Add the chicken thighs back into the skillet, simmering until chicken is cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
Sprinkle with parsley or chives before serving, if desired.

Notes

Serve over rice, mashed potatoes or pasta

I’m a big fan of this cast iron skillet, it’s amazing and I use it several times a week (affiliate link).

Skinny Thai Chicken Noodle Soup: 177 Calories

04.02.2014 14 Comments

My life has been insane lately. A good insanity from being busy, being asked to do things, be places. It’s welcomed and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunities I’ve been so blessed with, even on the days when it feels like it’s too much. Travel, speaking engagements, book signings, photography jobs, dinners, it’s all amazing I’ve hardly found the self esteem to feel like I even deserve half of it.

Luckily a coping mechanism for me has always been cooking, a double edged sword when you have a propensity to stress eat. So I’ve had to sublimate my urge to gorge on cheesecake with homemade soup. A fine stand in, especially when it takes 15 minutes and only 177 calories a bowl.

It also makes me feel like I have this all under control, and I’m going to go ahead and let myself think that for a while longer.

Skinny Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Calories per serving: 177

Ingredients

1 tbs olive oil
5 ounces chicken breast, chopped
2 cloves garlic, grated with a microplane
2 cups fat free, low sodium chicken broth
2 tsp fish sauce
3 tbs soy sauce
1 can (13.5 fl oz) lite coconut milk
2 wt oz rice noodles, broken
2 tbs fresh lime juice
1 tbs crushed red pepper
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
¼ cup green onion, chopped

Instructions

In a large pot heat the olive oil. Add the chicken and cook until browned. Stir in the garlic.
Add the chicken broth, fish sauce, soy sauce and coconut milk.
Add the broken rice noodles and simmer until noodles are soft, about 10 minutes.
Stir in the lime juice and red pepper.
Ladle into bowls, garnish with cilantro and green onions.

Beer Fried Chicken

31.01.2014 10 Comments

I’ve told you that in my Past Life Pre Blogging Existence I worked with gang kids in South Central LA. Like this kid, and this one. As a skinny, blonde haired, blue-eyed, 21-year-old, I didn’t exactly blend seamlessly into Compton and Watts. My Stand Out appearance was obvious to me, but it was other oddities about the Girl From The Farm persona that were more of a surprise to me, and food was one of those things.

In my culture, while at someones house, this is the expected exchange:

Host: "Can I get you somethings to eat?"

Me: "No thanks, I’m fine."

In my Middle American Culture, this is what is expected of me and I said it without hesitation, it was polite. Except that it wasn’t. Because I wasn’t in Lunchmeat Small Town USA, I was in Compton and unknowingly offending people who wanted to feed me. It was rude to refuse food, "What? You too good for my food?!". Before I was shoved against a locker by a co-worker and schooled on the non-WASPy response to food offerings, I was offered fried chicken in a trailer park in South Central LA.

It was late afternoon on a Wednesday and my first session with a sweet 12 year old kid that had found his way from juvenile detention to a foster family living in a 1970’s mobile home, run by a short, kind, plump woman who took her job of Foster Mom as seriously as a heart attack. She was the best I’d ever seen. The house wasn’t fancy (a few weeks later I helped her install peel-and-stick vinyl that she’d found behind a dumpster onto the kitchen floor), six people lived in 400 square feet, and there was no heat or air, but she was pure love. And the woman could cook. She turned the small food budget into a feast.

I made my way up the steel steps of the house as she ushered me into the kitchen to the smell of fried chicken. "You want some?" The no thanks I’m fine standard response stuck in my throat. I did want some. I hesitated, my eyes widened, I had the look of a cartoon dog salivating over a steak plastered on my face.

"Don’t pretend like your skinny ass don’t want some of this. Sit."

So I did. I sat my skinny ass at the small kitchen table surrounded by mismatched chairs. She joined me, along with her new foster son freshly freed from Kid Jail with the remainder of a GTA still hanging on his juvenile record.

We spent the next few hours talking, laughing, and eating the best fried chicken I’d ever had.

Before I was walked to my car by an older kid who wanted to make sure I was safe, I asked her what her secret was, "Always double up on the flour. Two dips in the flour, two dips in the buttermilk." I’ll take it. She knew what she was doing.

Beer Fried Chicken

Print Recipe

Ingredients

3 lbs chicken legs
¼ cup kosher salt
1 sweet white onion sliced
1 ½ cups buttermilk
12 ounces pale ale
2 tsp red chili sauce such as Sriracha or Tapatio
2 ½ cups flour
1 tsp black pepper
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tbs brown sugar
oil for frying

Instructions

Arrange the chicken in an even layer in a large baking pan.
Sprinkle evenly with kosher salt. Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours. Rinse the chicken and pan thoroughly of salt, return the chicken to the baking dish along with the onion slices.
In a small bowl whisk together the buttermilk, beer and chili sauce, pour evenly over the chicken, cover and refrigerate for 8 to 24 hours.
In a medium sized bowl stir together the flour, black pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, chili powder and brown sugar.
One at a time remove the chicken legs, dredge in the flour mixture then gently re-dip in the marinade and recoat with the flour mixture (double coating of the flour mixture will give you a crispier chicken), set on a baking sheet.
Allow the coated chicken to sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes.
At the oil to a large pot until about 6 inches deep, heat to 350 degrees using a cooking thermometer clipped to the pan, adjust heat to maintain that temperature.
Working in batches fry the chicken until golden brown and cooked through, about 12 minutes each.

Slow Cooker Beer Chicken Tacos with Jalapeno Slaw

24.01.2014 23 Comments

I’ve often been accused of going overboard.

Of being one of those people who just does too much. But it’s all smoke and mirrors in a way. I’m not as organized or even as interesting as I’d like you to think. I leave dishes in the sink far too long, my pantry is a mess and I am incredibly behind on what should be common business practices.

But I always make tortillas from scratch, so that’s impressive, right? I still have to figure out how to organize my life, and I can often be a little too relaxed with the domestic chores, but I will dazzle you with soft tortillas that took way less time than you think. And the five minutes it takes to get this in your slow cooker will make you think I have this all under control.

Because taco nights and beer fix most minor life crises.

Slow Cooker Beer Chicken Tacos with Jalapeno Slaw

Print Recipe

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

For Jalapeno Slaw

1 cup shredded green cabbage
½ cup red onions thinly sliced
2 jalapenos chopped (seeds and membrane removed)
2 tbs IPA beer
¼ cup sour cream
½ tsp salt

For the Chicken

1 tbs cornstarch
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp brown sugar
pinch cayenne
¾ cup pale ale
3 tbs tomato paste
1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs* cut into bite sized pieces
tortillas for serving

Instructions

In a small bowl gently stir together the slaw ingredients, refrigerate until chilled.
In a small bowl whisk together cornstarch, cumin, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, brown sugar, cayenne, beer and tomato paste.
Add the chicken to a slow cooker, pour the beer mixture over the chicken.
Cook on low for 6 hours or until chicken is cooked through. Stir at least once during cooking.
Spoon chicken into tortillas, top with slaw.

Chili Lime Beer Chicken

15.01.2014 12 Comments

Girls are beasts.

I played Powder Puff Football in college in the free safety position, all 115 lbs of me, and saw up close and personal the kind of rule breaking brutality one girl can throw at another. Maybe it’s years of being told to sit up straight and act like a good girl, but once you strap on that waist belt of tear away flags and throw a football in the mix girls unleash a lifetime of pent up frustrations. I saw elbows to the face, cleats to the shins and pony tail pulls to the ground. None of that was me, other than one full contact body shove in the end zone, I played pretty fair. Sure that girl cried, but if you can’t handle the heat, get off the field.

The greatest part about my season of savage girl on girl football was that I now completely understand the game, which makes watching it so much more enjoyable. I’m also able to explain it in "girl language" to those ladies who missed out on being body checked by the pissed off Freshman ("downs are like chances"). Which other than the chicken wings I’ve made, is what I can bring to the Football Watching Parties I’m invited to.

And as much as I love to watch my team rattle the stadium so loudly the crowd registers on the Richter scale (raise your hand if you know who I’m talking about), I love the food that football watching requires.

This weekend, and the very exciting game that will be happening on Sunday, will necessitate this Beer and Buttermilk Fried Chicken, probably this dip, and I’m using it as an excuse to make these Beer Doughnuts again. Because even if wrong team wins, at least I’ll have fried chicken and doughnuts. I’ll just have to find someone to body check to make myself feel better.

Chili Lime Beer Chicken

Print Recipe

Ingredients

12 ounces pale ale
3 tbs tomato paste
3 tbs fresh lime juice
1 tbs chili powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt
2 tbs honey
1 tbs soy sauce
2 tsp red chili sauce such as Sriracha
2 lbs chicken wings

Instructions

In a large bowl whisk together the beer, tomato paste, lime juice, chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt, honey, soy sauce and red chili sauce.
Add the chicken, stir to coat, cover and refrigerate for 3 hours and up to over night.
Place the oven rack at the top 1/3 of the oven. Preheat oven to 400.
Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly spray with cooking spray. Remove chicken from marinade, add to prepared baking sheet.
Add the marinade to a pot over high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently until thickened and reduced, about 8 minutes.
Brush chicken on all sides with thickened marinade.
Bake for ten minutes, brush with marinade, repeat until chicken is cooked through, brushing with marinade and turning every ten minutes. Chicken will take 30-40 minutes to cook.

Honey Chili Beer Chicken

27.12.2013 33 Comments

I see how you get here. The keyword searches that bring you to this little blog of mine. Most of these keyword searches make sense, like "Beer recipes," "Cooking with beer," and even "The Beeroness." This past year nearly 8,000 people came to my blog with the keyword "The Beeroness," or it could have been just one guy searching for me eight thousand times. If that was you, thank you and you’re creepy.

Sometimes those keywords don’t make sense, like the person that found my blog while searching, "fun recipes for toddlers" or all those people looking for "healthy quick meals." I am not the top pick for either of those catagories. But it’s post holidays, and we are in that ill fitting week between Christmas and New Years that feels like the calendar equivalent of the end of a loaf of bread and you all seem to want something at least semi healthy.

Me too, I did eat three cinnamon rolls yesterday in about 5 minutes. I could use a little not-as-bad-for-me one pot meal.

So here it is. One pot. Not completely unhealthy. Quick and easy. But for the "fun for toddlers" part you’re on your own.

Honey Chili Beer Chicken

Print Recipe

Ingredients

3 tbs olive oil
6 boneless skinless chicken thigh filets
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1-2 tbs flour
½ cup sliced sweet white onions
2 cloves garlic minced
1 cup brown ale divided in half
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
2 tbs honey
½ tsp red chili sauce such as Sriracha plus additional if desired

Instructions

In a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat add the olive oil.
Sprinkle the chicken thighs on all sides with salt, pepper and flour.
Cook the chicken thighs until browned on all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove, and set aside.
Reduce heat to medium-low, add the onions and caramelize over medium heat until golden brown, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Stir in the garlic then add ½ cup brown ale, balsamic vinegar, honey and chili sauce. Simmer until reduced and thickened. Add the chicken back to the pan along with the remaining ½ cup brown ale.
Cover loosely with a lid, lower heat to maintain a simmer and allow to cook until chicken is cooked through, about an additional 10 minutes. Turning once during cooking.

I highly recommend this cast iron skillet. I use my almost every day (affiliate link).

Beer Brined Paprika Chicken with IPA Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce + Giveaway

01.12.2013 331 Comments

When you decided to dedicate your life to cooking with beer, people ask questions. Sometimes those questions follow puzzled looks at the grocery store at 8am while pushing a cart full of beer.

More commonly it’s during interviews, which have become more and more frequent over the past year (apparently I’m the foremost leading expert in cooking with beer). The questions are usually similar: "How did you get into cooking?" "What’s your favorite beer?" "How is that you’re not fat?"

The past three interviews I’ve had a new question come up all three times: "What are your favorite kitchen items?"

I did an entire interview for the May issue of Imbibe’s print magazine about things I can’t live without. To be honest, the answer changes a bit from moment to moment, but one thing that always seems to fall into that Can’t Live Without category is my Le Creuset cast iron skillet. I’ve cooked everything from cake to steak in mine and it’s my go to for quick dinners. Without hesitation it’s the pan I’d choose over all the others.

With a little inspiration from that question, and the upcoming gift giving festivities, I’m giving some of my favorite things away. A cherry red Le Creuset cast iron skillet (my absolute favorite), an autographed copy of my cookbook: The Craft Beer Cookbook (affiliate link)., and salt that I love so much I carry some around in my purse: Smoked Maldon Salt.

I’m even sharing a recipe from my book that I make in that go-to cast iron skillet. It even tastes great made with some of that smoked salt I love so much.

Beer Brined Paprika Chicken with IPA Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the Chicken:

1 cup IPA beer
1 cup Chicken Broth
1 tbs kosher salt plus ¼ tsp, divided
3 lbs chicken bone in, skin on (thighs, legs, wings)
1 tbs smoked paprika
1 tsp sweet paprika
½ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbs olive oil

For the sauce:

2 ounces cream cheese
2 tbs sour cream
2 tbs IPA
1 roasted red pepper from a jar is fine
¼ tsp salt
Rice for serving

Instructions

Add the beer, chicken broth and salt to a bowl, stir to combine. Add the chicken, place bowl in the refrigerator for 3 to 6 hours. Remove chicken from the brine, rinse, pat dry.
In a large bowl, mix together the smoked paprika, sweet paprika, onion powder, nutmeg, and cayenne. Add the Chicken, toss until well coated. Allow to sit at room temperature for 10 to fifteen minutes.
Heat the olive oil in a large cast iron skillet. Add the chicken, fat side down, and allow to brown, about 4 minutes. Turn chicken over and place cast iron skillet in the oven, cook at 425 for 18 to 20 minutes or until cooked through. (If you don’t own a large enough cast iron skillet to accommodate the chicken, brown chicken in batches and place on a baking sheet that has been covered with aluminum foil. Place baking sheet in the oven, cook at 425 for 18 to 20 minutes.)
While the chicken is cooking, add all of the sauce ingredients to a food processor, process until smooth.
Plate chicken on top of rice, cover with sauce prior to serving.

In the spirit of Holiday Giving, I’ve teamed up with some pretty fantastic bloggers to give away a few of our favorite things.

Enter my giveaway by using the Rafflecopter widget below, but don’t forget to check out the other blogs and enter those giveaways as well.

1. Bakeaholic Mama 2. Pineapple and Coconut 3. Fabtastic Eats 4. The Lemon Bowl 5. Foodness Gracious 6. Rachel Cooks 7. Dine and Dish 8. Big Bear’s Wife 9. Nutmeg Nanny 10. Savory Simple 11. What Megan’s Making

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Duck Confit on IPA Potato Cakes with Stout Pomegranate Sauce

22.11.2013 7 Comments

What the hell does Confit mean, anyway?

The culinary world is full of high brow words that can be used to dazzle and confuse the mainstream masses, that in reality just define simple principles.

Charcuterie? Just a meat plate.

Crutites? Just raw vegetables.

Braise? Sear in hot pan then cook slow and low in liquid.

Canapé? Any type of finger food.

And that brings us to confit. Sounds difficult and intimidating but it just means to cook in oil or fat at a low temperature for a long time. It was originally invented as a way to preserve meat and chefs quickly found that it worked wonders on duck and goose. The greatest gift that the Confit Inventor gave to the modern day busy entertainer is that it can be made a week (some say months) ahead of time. The flavors just keep getting better. It’s an easy and nearly foolproof way of cooking like a Culinary Superhero even if you only have a few successful meals under your cookin' belt.

I made this twice, the second time I just served the duck over a pile IPA mashed potatoes (rather than making the cakes) with the stout pomegranate sauce and a sprinkle of pomegranate seeds, turned out beautifully. It was so good I’m already planning on making it again. It’s my new Go-To fancy dinner party meal.

Don’t let the deluxe title fool you, use it as a way to dazzle and impress others. Just don’t let them know how easy it was.

Duck Confit on IPA Potato Cakes with Stout Pomegranate Sauce

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the Duck:

8 duck legs
¼ cup kosher salt
6 garlic cloves peeled
2 tbs fresh thyme chopped
3 cups duck fat
¼ cup olive oil

For the Stout Pomegranate Sauce:

16 fl oz pomegranate juice
1 cup imperial stout
¼ cup balsamic
½ cup pomegranate seeds

For the Potato Cakes:

4 lbs potatoes peeled, sliced
8 tbs butter cut into cubes
1/3 cup cream
1/3 cup IPA beer
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 egg
1 cup milk
½ cup flour
2 cups Challah bread crumbs see note
3 tbs olive oil

Instructions

To make the duck:

Sprinkle a thin layer of kosher salt in a baking pan. Arrange the duck legs in an even layer over the salt. Sprinkle with chopped thyme, press the garlic cloves onto the duck legs. Sprinkle with remaining salt. Cover and chill for 24 hours.
Preheat oven to 275.
Remove duck from pan, rinse well, return to a clean, salt free pan.
Cover with duck fat and olive oil.
Cook at 275 until duck is falling off the bone, about 3 hours.
Cover and chill for 24 hours and up to a week (some chefs state that duck confit can last up to two month chilled in fat, and flavor gets better over time. However, there is a slight increased risk of food born illness after 8 days).
When ready to serve, return to 300 degree oven until warmed through. Gently shred, remove from oil to drain.

To make the Sauce:

Add the pomegranate juice, stout and balsamic to a saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally until thickened and reduced, about 15 minutes. (Can be made a week ahead of time. Chill until ready to use, heat slightly under warm running water before drizzling. I store this in a plastic squeeze bottle).

To make the potato cakes:

Cook the potatoes in lightly salted boiling water until fork tender. Drain and add potatoes to a stand mixer along with butter, cream, IPA, salt and pepper, mix on medium speed until well combined.
Form into 4 inch wide by one inch high cakes, place on a baking sheet covered with wax paper. Chill for one hour and up to 24.
In a small bowl Wisk together the egg and milk. In a separate bowl add the flour. In a third bowl add the breadcrumbs.
Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat. One at a time dredge the cakes in flour, then dip in milk mixture, then coat with breadcrumbs.
Fry in hot olive oil until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from pan, allow to drain on a stack of paper towels.
To plate add the cakes to serving plates, top with duck meat, drizzle with stout pomegranate sauce, sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.

Notes

To make Challah breadcrumbs, add ½ a challah loaf to a food processor and process until just crumbs. Pour crumbs in on a baking sheet in an even layer. Bake at 350 until golden brown, about 6 minutes.

I use the Duck Fat you can also find it at Sur La Table and it also works wonders with potatoes. (Affiliate Link)

Slow Cooker Beer and Brown Sugar Pulled Chicken Sliders

01.11.2013 67 Comments

Slow Cooker Beer and Brown Sugar Pulled Chicken Sliders. Perfect for a football game!

For all of the FanBoy love that seems to be sent to the Slow Cooker, it’s my least favorite way to produce a meal. Flavors tend to muddy, its hard to develop layers of flavor, and this culinary contraption seems to render a thinking cook obsolete: dump it in and turn it on.

Meat seems to be the best use, especially when you introduce beer into the mix. Both a low and slow cooking method and the alcohol in beer are meat tenderizers giving you a great final product.

I can concede that it’s convenient for those of you who don’t prefer to spend all day in the kitchen babying a sauce or teasing a sourdough starter back to life, I tend to favor the high maintenance meals.

Given my skepticism of a Slow Cooker meal, I was thrilled with how this came out. I made it twice, once with a stout with about 4% ABV (Alcohol By Volume, it should be listed on the label of your beer) and the second time with a porter with 9% ABV.

Because it’s the alcohol in the beer that gives it it’s tenderizing power, the higher ABV did the best job. Look for a beer that packs a punch, and you’ll have a fantastic crowd-pleasing meal that takes only about five minutes of active time.

I’ll just have to satisfy my need for involved cooking tasks with homemade beer slider buns.

Slow Cooker Beer and Brown Sugar Pulled Chicken Sliders

Print Recipe

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

¼ cup tomato paste
3 tbs soy sauce
3 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1/3 cup brown sugar packed
12 ounces porter beer high ABV dark beer works best
6 boneless skinless chicken thigh fillets
18-20 slider buns

Instructions

In a small bowl whisk together the tomato paste, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder and brown sugar.
Add the sauce, chicken and beer to a slow cooker. Cook on low for 4 hours or until chicken pulls apart easy with a fork.
Using two forks, shred chicken.
Scoop chicken into slider buns.

Moroccan Stout Chicken

01.10.2013 18 Comments

Moroccan food will always feel a bit dangerous to me because I almost died in Morocco. At least that’s how it felt.

A few years ago, after a plane ride, several trains, and a multi-hour bus ride through the back woods of Morocco, I found myself in the middle of the city of Fez with my sister. After a sleepless week filled with a mazed of a walled city, a ride through Middle Atlas with a Moroccan drug dealer, wild monkeys, and dimly lit back rooms in rug factories, it was time to head back to Spain. The night before the long bus ride back to the ferry dock, it made sense to find the bus station, a dry run to see how far of a walk it was, sans backpacks, to give ourselves enough time the next morning.

After a longer than anticipate walk, we found ourselves at the dusty entrance to a dilapidated bus terminal that would be the exit door to a traumatic but eye opening trip. Just before dusk we start to walk back to our hotel, instinctively walking faster as the sun began to dip below the horizon. Trying to remain strong for the other, each of us tried to lighten the mood with jokes and small talk but an old Peugeot hatch back fill with Moroccan men broke all pretense that was possible.

We ran. They followed. Driving onto sidewalks, down alleys, cat calls and Arabic slang floating out the windows. The darkness that had fallen echoed the feeling of panic rising inside me as I tried to remember the route back to the hotel. Just get back to the hotel, inside the doors, just get back. But I was lost. I had no idea where we were, nothing looked familiar.

As we rounded a corner, too small for the little car to make, the four men abandoned their vehicle and began to chase on foot. I turned down the nearest alley, only to see two other men, their backs to us. They had machine guns. We stopped dead, frozen.

As they slowly turned towards us, I could feel our hunters stop as well, a few yards behind us. That moment, which was probably only mere seconds, seemed to last forever. The Peugeot Crew behind us, the Machine Gun Two in front. Either they save us, or they kill is. This either works out fine, or it’s about to get really bad. Frozen, silently begging them to help, willing them to be good.

The Machine Gun Two yelled in Arabic, shooing the men back into their car. The sound of the Peugeot driving away came just seconds later. "We are police. We will help you." A relief, mixed with the reality that we weren’t safe yet, came over me. They knew exactly where our hotel was, just a few blocks away.

As we began the walk back to our temporary sanctuary, the Moroccan cops began a friendly chat that ended with,"You girls are very pretty. Can we show you the town?" Lucky for us, they were gentleman, taking the rejection in stride as they deposited us at the door of our hotel. Kindly waving goodbye as we disappeared inside.

Later that night, after we’d decompressed, we braved the streets for a nearby cafe. A literal hole in the wall that had been carved out a century earlier to include a clay oven that made the most incredible chicken. For just the equivalent of 4 American dollars total, we each had a metal plate with roasted Moroccan chicken and saffron rice. It very well may have been the intensity of the situation, but that was the best damn chicken I’ve ever had. Now Moroccan chicken just tastes incredible, especially when it doesn’t come after seeing machine guns.

Want to know what happened next? Read about what happened on the boat ride out of Morocco.

Moroccan Stout Chicken

Print Recipe

Ingredients

2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
¼ cup flour plus 2 tbs, divided
6 chicken thighs
2 large shallots chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup stout
¼ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp turmeric
pinch cayenne
½ tsp cumin
¼ cup brown sugar
3 tbs lemon juice
½ lb medjool dates pitted (about 12)
¼ cup almonds
¼ cup chopped parsley
rice or couscous for serving

Instructions

In a small bowl combine the salt, pepper and ¼ cup flour, set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a cast iron skillet until hot by not smoking.
Dredge the chicken thighs in the flour mixture, sear in the hot pan until browned on all sides. Remove from pan (the chicken will not be cooked through at this time).
Add the shallots, cooking until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic.
Stir in the chicken broth, stout, ginger, cayenne, cumin, brown sugar and lemon juice.
Return the chicken to the pan, reduce heat to maintain a low simmer. Cover loosely and cook until the chicken is cooked through and registers 160F on a cooking thermometer.
Transfer chicken to a serving platter.
Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons flour over the sauce, whisking to combine. Add pitted dates.
Increase heat to a strong simmer and allow to cook, stirring occasionally until reduced and thickened, about 8 minutes.
Serve chicken over rice or couscous with dates and sauce, sprinkled with parsley and almonds.

California Quinoa Bowl

10.09.2013 13 Comments

California Quinoa Bowl is healthy, naturally gluten free, dairy free, and complete delicious in just 15 minutes.

There are a few things we like here in California when it comes to naming dishes after our state. First, it should be healthy, we like to at least pretend that we lean towards the health conscious way of life. Second, the inclusion of avocados is almost a necessity (you can leave off those sprouts, by the way) we are quite proud of those gorgeous avocados around here. Lastly, at least three different types of produce is a must, HALF of all the fruits and vegetables that are grown in the United States are grown in California (don’t look so surprised, we are more than just palm trees and reality shows).

As a girl who was born in California and spent most of her life here, I tend to eat this way quite a bit (when not making an egregiously Non-california type dishes such as the Beer Doughnuts). I love quinoa (I always cook it this way as not to render it mushy) I load my plate with produce, and I always use chicken thighs, so much better than those chicken breasts people seem to be so fond of. But then again, maybe it’s living in LA too long I just might be sick breasts all together.

California Quinoa Bowl

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken thigh fillets
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tbs olive oil
2 cups cooked quinoa
1 red pepper, roasted and sliced
1 English cucumber, peeled and diced (or 2 persian cucumbers not peeled but diced)
4 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 cup hummus (I used a spicy hummus)
1 avocado, sliced

Instructions

Sprinkle the chicken thighs on all sides with salt, pepper and onion powder.
Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet until hot but not smoking.
Cook chicken on both sides until browned and chicken is cooked through, about 3-5 minutes per side. Remove from pan, allow to cool sligthly and slice.
Evenly distribute the quinoa between 4 bowls, top with sliced chicken, red pepper, cucumber, tomatoes and chicken.
Top each bowl with 1/4 cup hummus and a few slices of avocado.