Asian Marinated Chicken with Sesame-Garlic Brussels Sprouts

Yesterday, while planning our meals for the week, I suggested pork chops on the grill for Sunday's dinner. Jon nearly knocked me out of my chair when he said he preferred chicken. Chicken?? Jon always complains how much I make chicken (maybe once a week?) so you can imagine my surprise at his suggestion.

I agreed immediately and picked up some organic chicken. I put him in charge of the marinade, as he is the master of marinades! Check out the marinades tag in my blog for some of his amazing creations. We decided on Asian flavors, and he came up with the following (amounts are approximate):

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3-4 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced through the microplane
• Small knot of ginger, minced through the microplane

Simple, right? The chicken marinated for 7 hours before Jon grilled it. It was absolutely amazing! Full of flavor and juicy. The sesame flavor really stood out, and the ginger added a lot of brightness. Jon said this has to be his best marinade for chicken yet - I agree.

When I went to the veggie store today they were out of bok choy. I meant to get it at the supermarket, but completely forgot, so I cooked some Brussels sprouts instead. We both love Brussels sprouts either roasted or sauteed with garlic and butter. I sauteed them tonight, and added a few other flavors to complement the chicken.

Brussels Sprouts - Ingredients

• 1 lb Brussels sprouts, cleaned, bottoms cut off, and halved
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• Pinch of sugar
• 1/3 c chicken broth
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Directions

• Heat a pan - add butter, olive oil, and sesame oil
• Add garlic, saute 2 minutes
• Add Brussels sprouts and red pepper flakes; saute for 8 minutes, adding sugar halfway through to help it caramelize
• Add broth, lower heat, cover, and let simmer for 5 minutes or until the sprouts are cooked (mostly soft, but not mushy)

What a great way to add a bit of flavor to Brussels sprouts, especially with the flavors we had going on in the chicken. I love how they turn so bright green after they cook -

Finally, I made a packaged item for our side... I don't normally use packaged foods, but found some nice looking Thai Vegetable Dumplings at Trader Joe's yesterday. I don't get to Trader Joe's often - the closest one is a new one that just opened 30 minutes from us. But I hear people raving about their frozen items, so picked these up.

They were very easy to cook - I heated olive oil in a pan, added the frozen dumplings and browned them on all sides, about 5 minutes. Then I added just enough water to coat the bottom of the pan, covered them, and let them steam for 3 more minutes. I was pleasantly surprised - they were pretty good! I won't make a habit of using things like this, but it was nice to find some good, quality packaged food that I didn't feel bad about eating.

I hope everyone had a delicious weekend!