Spiced Chicken Thighs + Asparagus - 4 stars!

boneless, skinless chicken thigh is my favorite part of the chicken. the meat is far juicier and much more flavorful than the breast, and so long as you buy skinless, the fat content isn't much higher than the breast either!

for this meal, i pan-seared the chicken thighs instead of grilling them (i think the grill ran out of propane?). i prepared a dry rub out of cumin, coriander, turmeric, ginger, red pepper and a little salt and rubbed it all over the meat. i cooked them over medium high for ~ 5 minutes on each side in a non stick pan with a bit of cooking spray. SO easy, and far tastier than you'd expect.

i steamed the asparagus, and tossed it with this fantastic balsamic vinegar that my parents gave me for christmas - it's fig and meyer lemon balsamic vinegar. ooooh, yummy.

i also assembled a spinach salad, as i do for the nearly every meal. this picture is crappy, so i can't tell what i topped the salad with. i'm guessing avocado, tomato, dried cranberry and onion of some sort.

it was such a healthy, flavorful, and light but still satisfying meal!

the recipe that i pulled the spice rub from suggested serving this with a yogurt sauce (to tame the spice) over couscous. since i can't eat dairy, i skipped the yogurt sauce - i don't think the rub is very spicy anyway, so i gave up trying to create a soy version.

Yield

4 servings (serving size: 2 chicken thighs, about 1/4 cup yogurt mixture, and 1/2 cup couscous)

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked couscous
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• Cooking spray
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
• 1 (6-ounce) carton plain fat-free yogurt
• Cilantro sprigs (optional)

Preparation

Cook couscous according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.

Combine cumin and next 4 ingredients (through pepper) in a bowl; stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt. Sprinkle spice mixture over chicken. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done.

Combine remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, chopped cilantro, garlic, and yogurt in a bowl, stirring well. Serve with chicken and couscous. Garnish with cilantro sprigs, if desired.

Courtesy of cookinglight.com