Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Cinnamon Chicken?



Yup. You read that right: cinnamon chicken. I was a little weary to combine the two ingredients, but really, it turned out quite well.

After reading in various periodicals that cinnamon is both an appetite suppressant and quite good for you, I was ready to try it on chicken. Here's what an article in Women's Health magazine had to say: "Research has linked the copper-colored stuff with reduced blood sugar, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels in people with type 2 diabetes, and a recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that adding a little more than a teaspoon to rice pudding even helped tame blood sugar in people without diabetes." Even more of a reason to add more cinnamon to my diet.

Cat Cora, of Food Network fame had this recipe published in the latest issue of Health magazine. I modified it slightly (mainly just by using boneless, skinless chicken breasts, omitting the wine and by halving the recipe) and then served it over some delicious tinkyada brown rice pasta. Here's a play by play of what I did.

Cinnamon Chicken (gluten-free, dairy-free)

serves two for dinner

1 tsp cinnamon, salt & pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup chicken broth
3 tbs tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano

First, mix the cinnamon, salt and pepper in a bowl and rub chicken with cinnamon seasoning. Then heat the olive oil in a deep skillet over medium high heat. Brown chicken for 4-5 minutes. Lower heat to medium high, add onions and garlic and cook for about three minutes. Then add 1/4 cup of broth to pan and scrape down chicken and onion bits. When the stock has evaporated, add the water, rest of broth, tomato paste, oregano and more garlic. Cover and simmer for one hour. You should be left with two perfectly cooked chicken breasts and lots of tasty sauce.

Henry couldn't keep his eyes off of it.

10 comments:

Stacey said...

What an interesting combination. I'll have to tell my husband after he tries it.
BTW, I love the photos of the dog.

Linda said...

Sounds delicious! Thanks for the recipe.

You can still link up to What's for dinner Wednesday. Use this post or any of your other dinner related ones.

Vittoria said...

It looks like it'd be great. Lots of middle eatstern meat dishes include cinnamon and other spices us westerners usually associate with sweet things. I love mixed with lamb, too.

Anonymous said...

Now that is fascinating. I don't know if I could slide the cinnamon by my husband.

Jen said...

Your recipes always look so good, I have so many of them tagged but have yet to make one. I have got to get on it!!

sallybranwyn said...

Yum! I often make rice and lentils and then top them with yogurt and caramalized onions. The secret? Add about a teaspoon of cinnamon to the onions.

Gina said...

I have also heard about all the beneficial properties of cinnamon, but I rarely find ways to work it into my diet. This recipe sounds great! Thanks for the idea.

Erin said...

If there's one thing cinnamon is good on, it's EVERYTHING. I fully support the intrepid cinnamon venture!

Anonymous said...

Wow, what an interesting idea. And yes, cinnamon is healthy stuff, indeed. I use it almost every day, but never thought to put it on chicken. Sounds good though -- thanks for the inspiration. I have some incredible Ceylon cinnamon I got for Christmas, I'll give this creative recipe of yours a try.

Thanks!
Melissa

Christi said...

I saw cinnamon chicken mentioned on Little House on the Prairie as Almonzo's favorite dish and we had never heard of it before either. So I was excited to see your post about it.

We tried it tonight and everyone loved it. Hubby gave me a funny look after the first bite and asked what I put in it (he didn't know what it was) but said it was really good. We are definitely going to be making this again.