Mayan Chicken Stew

Plan Z Phase: This is a Z2 (ZReduction) recipe.

Don’t let this list of ingredients deter you! This is an amazingly easy dish to make. On a diet like this Mexican or South American food would not normally be possible but this tastes authentic and has no rice or potatoes. No tortillas or cheese either. You CAN have exotic meals on Plan Z!

Servings: This makes 6 servings.

Each serving is 1-1/2 cups

Ingredients:

  • ¼ cup of water
  • 1 Tbl of apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tsp of ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp of ground cumin
  • 1 poblano pepper chopped (use the flesh only. Toss out the seed pod)
  • ¼ – ½ of a jalapeno, chopped
  • 10 whole cloves of garlic minced
  • sea salt to taste
  • 6 chicken breast halves
  • 1 medium red onion diced (or one half of a large onion)
  • ¼ cup of minced fresh cilantro
  • 4 plum tomatoes, chopped
  • 3 cups of organic chicken broth
  • cayenne or hot sauce to taste

Ingredients:

First make your sauce/marinade: In a blender add the first 8 ingredients. You’ll be making a green watery paste.

In a 9″ x 13″ ovenproof pan place your chicken breasts. Cover the breasts with the green marinade. Toss them around so they are well coated. Place in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap to marinate. They can be in as short as an hour or as long as all day.

When you are ready to cook them use a spoon or spatula to scrape off the marinade and set it aside. KEEP it.

In a large sauté pan lightly spray olive oil and sauté your chicken on one side for a few minutes until it gets a nice, light brown color. About 5 minutes. Then flip over. Add the onions and stir just until they loosen. Then add the tomatoes, cilantro and chicken broth along with the reserve marinade. Stir around til it’s all mixed up. Then put a top on the pan. Reduce the heat to medium low and continue to cook covered until the chicken is cooked through. This will take about 12 minutes. Take a bit of the sauce and taste it on your finger. You will notice it has a smoky South American flavor but it is not very spicy.  This is your time to zip it up if you want more intense heat. A light dusting of cayenne added to the sauce will really kick it up or just pass around a bottle of hot sauce after it’s served so each person can decide their own heat level. Make sure the chicken has no pink in the middle and you’re ready to serve.

Portion:  One chicken breast with up to ½ cup of the sauce. You can also have a small serving of another veggie and/or salad.

Enjoy!

Cheers,