Recipe of the Week for 3/28 - Sweet & Spicy Chicken Tacos

Yet another version of Mexican chicken! Yes, I'm addicted to Mexican food. What can I say? It's normally pretty easy, plus it tastes good! I adapted this one from Prudence Pennywise. It's meant to be a slow-cooker recipe, but for whatever reason, I didn't get a head start on it, so I made it into a stove-top recipe. You can get the slow-cooker version here. I am sure you could do it with frozen chicken breasts, like I did for the Mexican Chicken I posted a while back.

Sweet & Spicy Chicken Tacos
adapted from Prudence Pennywise

Ingredients
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (14 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 c. brown sugar
Taco shells
Taco toppings (lettuce, sour cream, shredded cheese - whatever you like)

Directions
Put chicken breasts in a pot & fill with water until they're covered. Add about 1/2 t. red pepper flakes and the garlic cloves. I just peeled the garlic, then gave it a good whack to crush it a bit and tossed them in. You can add more of the red pepper flakes and/or garlic if you like things spicier. Bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to simmer and cook for 30 minutes.

Remove the chicken and let it cool for a bit.

Dump the water out of the pot. Add the tomatoes, brown sugar and 1/2 t. red pepper flakes. Cook over medium heat until bubbly.

While the tomato mixture heats up, shred the chicken. I usually just use my fingers, but you can do it with two forks.

When the tomato mixture gets bubbly, add the chicken and simmer for about 10 minutes.

While the chicken heats up, warm up your taco shells.

Fill the tacos, top as desired & enjoy!

The Photo
Here they are. I got those cool flat-bottomed taco shells that stand up on their own. I served the tacos with refried black beans (from Amy's Organic - yummy!).


The Verdict
I liked these a lot. I did not drain the tomatoes, but I think you should. The mixture was very liquid-y and made the taco shells too soft. My husband thought it was a little too sweet. I actually cut the brown sugar down from the original recipe because I know in the past he has not liked sweet/spicy dishes I've made. But, it was still a tad too sweet for him. Maybe next time I will just get some hot sauce so he can spice his tacos up, because I thought they were just fine!

This is another one from the Prudence Pennywise blog. I don't really have anything else to say in the way of introductions, so I'll just get right to it.

Quickest Weeknight Tomato & Basil Pasta
from Prudence Pennywise

Ingredients
1/2 lb. whole grain angel hair pasta
1 T. butter
1 T. olive oil
1 T. minced fresh garlic
1 T. dried basil or 1/2 c. chopped fresh basil
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1/2 t. brown sugar
2 (14 oz.) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese (plus more for passing)

Directions
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain pasta in colander and let it rest there for now.

To the same cooking pot, add butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic & cook for 1 minute. Add dried basil (add fresh basil at the end), crushed red pepper flakes, brown sugar, salt & pepper. Stir in tomatoes with juices. Bring to a boil & simmer for 2 minutes. (Add fresh basil now if using.)

Add pasta back to pot and toss to coat. Stir in Parmesan. Pass more Parmesan at the table.

The Photo
There isn't one . . . I forgot . . . again

The Verdict
I think I halved this recipe for just Alec and me. I never measure my garlic, I just use a clove or two depending on the size. There's a strong possibility I didn't have any butter and just used all olive oil. I do remember very specifically that I used the low-sodium diced tomatoes and we both felt that it was too bland. So, either get the regular tomatoes or up the salt a little. I used dried basil because we didn't have any fresh. I'm sure it would be better with fresh basil!

Overall, I'd say this was an okay dish. I think I'll make it again, but add a touch more salt to the sauce and use fresh basil.