cayenne-rubbed chicken with avocado salsa

This recipe is from the lovely Mindy Anderson {author of The Orange Apron}, who got it from an issue of Everyday Food magazine. Phew! :) Anyway, we altered it a bit. Instead of red onions, we used white onions. Don't. It was a bad idea... way too powerful of a punch. Also, we doubled up on the avocado {this was a great idea... mmm, avocado}, halved the amount of onion and added a Roma tomato, since we had a bunch on hand. We also grilled the chicken instead of pan-frying it. All in all, I loved the meal. We ate outside {hence the strange coloring in the pic... natural sunlight- pssh! Weird!}, and it felt like a wonderful summertime meal. Note: If you don't like avocados and will not therefore eat the salsa with the chicken {ahem, James}, the chicken might be pretty spicy. As a combo, though, the flavors and spicy/creamy factors harmonize well and result in a super delicious meal!



RECIPE: Cayenne-Rubbed Chicken with Avocado Salsa

Ingredients:
coarse salt
ground pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 Tbs. olive oil
2 lbs. chicken breast, cut into strips
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice
2 large avocados, pitted and cut into chunks
1 Roma tomato, diced

Directions:
Fire up the grill. In a small bowl, combine 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and cayenne. Baste chicken with olive oil and rub with seasoning mix. Grill chicken on medium heat until cooked throughout (until opaque and the juices run clear, or until it is at least 165F). Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine onion and lime juice; set aside. Just before serving, fold avocado chunks and diced tomato into onion mixture; season with salt and pepper. Serve chicken topped with salsa.

If your kid doesn't like it, throw a tortilla his way. ;)