Sweet Chicken & Eggplant
For as random and interesting as this playful experience started, the outcome was pretty impressive! I was honestly worried about how this was going to turn out because the flavor combinations were foreign to me. I'm so happy it wasn't a disaster and it actually turned into something so absolutely amazing. It was a must to share and I will definitely cook this dish again in the near future. I'm sorry I didn't take any photos of the process, mainly because I honestly didn't have faith about the new flavors, haha oops. It was fantastic though! I will definitely be having this as a new staple in my kitchen. Give this a try for real!!
I served this dish over a royal blend rice (Texmati light brown rice, whole wheat pearl couscous, flaxseed and black lentil). Amazing pair!
Ingredients
Chicken:
3 chicken breasts, cleaned and trimmed of fat
ground coriander
ground cinnamon
salt
ground black pepper
olive oil
Eggplant:
1 medium eggplant, cut into small cubes
1 yellow onion, sliced
Honey
salt
ground black pepper
crushed red pepper
olive oil
Instructions
Have chicken breasts cleaned and fat trimmed and place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle one side with a little of each: salt, pepper, coriander, cinnamon. Then drizzle with olive oil and give a nice rub. Flip over and do the same to the other side. Place chicken breast nicely on baking sheet and set aside.
Preheat oven to 450.
Start cooking your rice if you are planning to serve with rice.
Start cutting your onion and eggplant.
Heat a large skillet on medium heat with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a sprinkle of crushed red pepper.
Once heated add your onions, season with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Lower heat to medium-low. Stir occasionally for about 5 minutes. Then drizzle with some honey, stir/saute for another couple minutes.
Add your eggplant. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, drizzle more olive oil over top.
Once oven is preheated, add your chicken breast to oven and cook for 15 minutes. When you take it out, cover with foil and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Cook your eggplant and onion mixture while stirring occasionally and add another drizzle of olive oil if it looks too dry. Cook this until the chicken is completely finished. All the eggplant will end up getting tender and super juicy. About the last few minutes of cooking this, add a few more drizzles of honey over the eggplant and onions. Taste, add more salt if necessary.
Serve chicken paired with rice and top dish with the eggplant and onion mixture.
We’d love to see your finished product! Post your picture on Instagram, tag us @danimade.kitchen and hashtag it #danimade