Meal Prep *Recipe*

Too often our days are jam packed and by necessity we end up eating out. Once in a while is a great treat, but as a habit eating out is expensive and can be very unhealthy. A great way to take control of your diet is to find some time and cook lots of food to save for the week ahead. Cooking is a great way to unwind, be creative, and experiment. The, creativity, comfort, and the will for experimentation are stronger with practice. Mistakes are perfectly okay and to be expected. Most every week, I do my best to make a new dish that is healthy (having a good balance of the necessary macro/micronutrients) and that is tasty enough that I can eat at least once a day for most of the week. By cooking for myself I save lots of money and gain the peace of mind of knowing exactly what is in my food. While I shop at Publix due to time, budget, and convenience, cooking for one's self provides the opportunity to patronize local businesses and growers.

One of my recent favorites is a hearty dish based on Chicken Mole (at least that's what I was thinking of when I went to the Publix down the road for spicy peppers). I'd never cooked a mole or read a recipe for one, but I had some last July that was pretty great and I knew roughly the flavors I wanted.

Mole is a broad category of sauce. Though there are many variations, all of them contain multiple kinds of chilis. To read more, follow this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mole_sauce 

Materials used:

-Skinless chicken breasts (7) (thighs/legs work too, bone in might be even better) 

-Jalapeno peppers (2) 

-Serrano peppers (2)

-Poblano peppers (2) 

-Sweet bell pepper (1)

-Chili pepper (2) 

-Habanero pepper (1) 

-Other (hot) peppers, it's hard to have too many (to taste) 

-Potatoes (4 medium)

-Vidalia onions (5 medium) 

-Garlic (1 whole head... or more) 

-Tomato (3) 

-Tomatillo (3) 

-Cooking oil 

-Butter (1 stick) 

-Rosemary (~6" fresh sprig) 

-Unsweetened cocoa powder (2 tbsp/pan)

-Brown sugar (1tbsp/pan)

-Bay leaf (2-3/pan)

-Coffee (2 tsp/pan)
-Salt (to taste)
-Black Pepper (to taste) 

-2 iron skillets 

Steps: 

The dish begins with roasted peppers. Roast peppers over open flame. Roasting adds a smokey flavor and reduces heat from capsaicin. For a spicier dish, use more peppers and/or set aside some peppers to add unroasted.

To roast the peppers, turn on your gas stove to medium-high (if you don't have a gas stove find a grill or similar source of open flame). Place the peppers directly on the stove's grate over the fire. The skin should hiss, pop, and blacken. Use of tongs, chopsticks, or similar to handle roasting peppers is highly recommended. Rotate the peppers so that they are evenly charred and set aside to cool for chopping later. Stems and seeds can be discarded. 

Preheat oven to 275 F. Heat 2 iron skillets over medium high heat with oil and butter to cover the bottom of the pan. Sear salted and peppered chicken breasts until lightly browned on each side. Reduce heat. Around the seared chicken in the pan, add in order medium diced potatoes, sliced onion, whole garlic cloves in husk*, bay leaf, 3 x 1" segments of fresh rosemary sprigs per pan, small to medium dice peppers, small dice tomatillo, medium dice tomato, 1/3 stick butter cut into pads scattered about each pan, salt, pepper, cocoa powder, coffee, and brown sugar. Increase heat to medium. Leave over medium heat until it just begins to simmer and transfer skillets to 275 F oven to roast, about 2 hours. 

After 2 hours, remove skillets from oven. If there is excessive liquid in the skillets, reduce liquid over medium high heat. Boiling off excess liquid will concentrate flavors and ensure the dish is not runny. DO NOT REDUCE ALL THE WAY. Be sure there is enough liquid that the dish will not become dry. 

Using forks, pull the chicken breasts in the skillets. This will shred the chicken breasts and allow the meat to soak up juices and flavors of the other ingredients. 

The result is a juicy pulled chicken mixed in a medley of tender vegetables and aromatics, with just enough heat to warm the mouth.

I like this wrapped in a warm flour tortilla with seasoned rice and mixed beans, sliced avocado, plain yogurt or sour cream, and fresh green beans. 

*To make the in-husk garlic cloves easier to eat, cut the bottom off so the clove inside is exposed and can be easily squeezed out after cooking.