Another meal with Brussels sprouts? Surprise, surprise. I do love them and I haven’t cooked them (or anything) in a while. I also had a container of bone-in skinless chicken thighs in the freezer and decided to defrost them to go along with the fresh sprouts. Typically when I make chicken thighs I will braise them in some way, or at the very least do some cooking on the stove. This time, I decided to marinate them in some garlic and spices and then bake them. Prior to serving, I glazed them and popped them under the broiler to get a nice crisp outside. Yea, I realize that without skin it is not quite the same, but these are a bit healthier.
The spice rub I used ended up going well with the honey/cider vinegar mixture used to glaze them. You could just as easily cook these on a grill and then near the end, glaze them and close the lid on the grill for a nice crust. Either way works and they would go great with mashed potatoes, pasta, etc. This meal consisted of a little pasta, chicken and sprouts.
Since I’ve posted similar versions of Brussels Sprouts before, I wont include that part of the meal, but for reference purposes, you can view the basic concept here and here. For the version I made here, you want to add some crushed walnuts, 1-2 tablespoons honey and a little more than a tablespoon of cider vinegar near the end of the cooking.
Ingredients
Serves 4
Recipe based on Cooking Light
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt or spiced salt
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground red pepper
8 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs
Olive oil or cooking spray
6 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
One hour and 10 minutes prior to cooking, combine chili powder, salt, sage, paprika and chili pepper in a medium bowl. Pat chicken thighs dry and flip over to bone side. Using your fingers, press a few small pieces of garlic behind the bone. Add remaining garlic to bowl along with chicken. Coat all the thighs with your hands. Cover and marinate for an hour in the fridge. Ten minutes before cooking, take chicken out to come to room temperature (this will allow them to cook more quickly).
Set a rack in lower half of the oven and heat oven to 350. In a roasting pan, add foil and coat lightly will olive oil or cooking spray. Place chicken into pan bone side up and cook for about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and flip chicken and cook an additional 15 minutes, or until internal temp is 170. Remove from oven and turn on your oven’s broiler. While heating, brush honey mixture onto chicken. Place back in broiler for 1 minute, remove, flip chicken and brush other side. Cook an additional 1-2 minutes and then serve with Brussels sprouts and/or desired sides. Enjoy!
