Smoked Paprika Chicken Thighs with Tomato Caper Rice

Bae Rating: 2.5. Simply because this dish is literally chicken and rice. This is an "I had a long day at work so I need to cook for my husband of 25 years and our 5 kids" kind of dish. Still bomb though :). 

Ingredients 

1 1/2 LB Chicken Thighs (about 4)

1 1/2 tbs of smoked paprika

1 tbs of garlic powder

1 tbs of onion powder

1/2 tbs of dried oregano

Sea salt and black pepper (to taste)

1 cup of Tomato-Caper sauce

2 cups of chicken stock (plus extra)

1 cup of white rice (we used Uncle Ben’s)

2 tbs of vegetable oil

Instructions

1. Pat dry your chicken thighs, and trim any extra fat. Season them liberally on both sides with the spice mixture, and set aside
2. In a medium oven-safe skillet, heat the vegetable oil on medium-high, then add the chicken thighs skin-side down
3. Sear the chicken thighs until they are crisp and have a beautiful deep brown color, roughly 1-2 minutes depending on how hot your stovetop gets. Don’t worry about cooking them through, they’ll finish in the oven!
4. Remove the chicken thighs, and add the white rice. Coat the rice in all the chickeny, crusty goodness, and stir for about a minute
5. Add the chicken stock and tomato caper sauce and stir.
6. Place the chicken thighs on top, and bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. Check the chicken at about 20 minutes, they should be done. If so, remove them, stir the rice, and let it continue to cook. If it looks a little dry, add a little more chicken stock, stir, and continue to bake it for another 5 minutes.
7. Serve the chicken and rice hot!

Spicy and Garlicky Tomato-Caper Shrimp

Bae Rating: 3.5. The dish is fire and looks fancy but we had to make a 1.5 point deduction because...garlic breath. No one likes hot garlic breath. 

Vibes: Solange makes us happy and so does this dish. 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of crushed tomatoes (We used Cento San Marzano Whole, Peeled)
• 1/2 lb of large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/4 cup of dry white wine
• 2 tbs of capers
• 1 tsp of cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes (or a little more, if you’re bold)
• 3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 shallot bulb, thinly sliced
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Olive oil, for cooking
• Fresh dill for garnish

Directions

1. Peel and devein your shrimp, then toss with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and the lemon zest. Set those bad boys aside for a second.
2. In a shmedium-sized skillet*, heat a heavy drizzle of olive oil on medium heat (about a 6-7/10)
3. Add the shallots and garlic, and cook until they're fragrant. Be VERY careful not to burn the garlic. Watch it more closely than you watch How To Get Away With Murder, or you might blow it.
4. Add the dry white wine, hand crushed tomatoes, cayenne and crushed red pepper flakes. You can always add more, or less crushed red pepper depending on who’s eating. Niks is half Bajan and lives for some spice, Fox dies when you open a bottle of Hot Sauce from across the room. Be accommodating.
5. Turn the heat down, and let the tomato mixture simmer for 3-5 minutes on medium-low heat (about a 4). This is when you should taste your sauce. Add more salt or pepper, a drizzle of honey. Do your thing, and be creative…within reason.
6. Add the shrimp and capers, and cook until the shrimp are opaque and not ONE SECOND MORE. Gummy shrimp is why nobody eat’s at chain seafood joints…that and the E.Coli.

Sprinkle with some fresh dill, and serve piping hot with some crusty bread for dipping. We served ours with herb focaccia, but any other delicious non-sandwich bread will work!

Sweet Potato and Chorizo Hash

Bae Rating: 3.5/5. This is a super easy breakfast that even the most culinarily challenged can finesse. It's quick, delicious, and will help ease the pain of even your worst weekend hangover...before your down the next round of mimosas that is. 

Vibes: Saturday morning in sweats, mimosa in hand. Naturally. 

Ingredients

2 cups of sweet potatoes, cubed 

1 cup of Mexican Chorizo (the kind that comes in a casing)

2 large cloves of garlic, minced 

1 cup of yellow onion, sliced

1 tsp of smoked paprika

1 tsp of cumin

1.5 tsp of sea salt

2 tsp of chili powder

2 tsp of garlic powder

2 tsp of onion powder

1/4 of cilantro, chopped for garnish

Homemade Crema, for garnish (If you can't find Mexican Crema in the store)

Fun fact: Sometimes we cheat and steam our sweet potatoes in the microwave. Patience is a virtue, but a hangover waits for no one. 

Instructions

1. In a large heavy bottomed skillet on medium- high heat, add the chorizo, and mash it up into smaller pieces (like how you do with ground beef making box tacos...please stop making box tacos)
2. After about 3-4 minutes, the chorizo should be opaque, but not fully cooked. Remove it from the pan and set aside.
3. Drain about half of the chorizo grease from the pan and set it aside.  Add the sweet potatoes to the pan, and cook until they start getting brown around the edges, but don’t let them burn. Turn the heat down if they start getting too brown too quickly!  
4. Add the onions and the seasonings, and cook until they begin to turn transulucent.
5. Add the garlic and drained chorizo back to the pan. Adding the garlic last prevents it from burning. Burnt garlic is nasty. Trust us. 
6. Cook on medium-high heat for another 7-10 minutes until the potatoes get a beautiful brown crust. The chorizo should be crisp and deep brown as well. 
7. At this point, start scrambling, frying or poaching your eggs. If you want a more hands off approach, you can make small wells in the hash, and bake the eggs directly in the potatoes. Just pop it in a 400 degree oven for a few minutes until the eggs are opaque and set!

1. Sprinkle with cilantro, and a drizzle of crema for garnish.

The onions should be right about here before you add the garlic in. If you add it too soon, it might burn!

ALL DONE! Go ahead and grub, you deserve it .

Slow Cooker Chipotle Chicken

Bae Rating: 2/5. Unless bae loves the simple things in life--aka chicken in a crockpot, this isn't the meal to impress someone. Perfect meal for a girls #TacoTuesday doe, turn up! 

Vibes: Honestly, every time we make quesadillas from the chipotle chicken it ends up being a lit night and these make for the perfect pregame and post-club recovery meal. Throw this chicken over grits for an even more fire hangover breakfast. Here's a turn up song.

Ingredients 

• 1.5 LBs of boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1 cup of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (~ 1 7.5 oz can)
• 1 cup of crushed tomatoes
• 2 large cloves of garlic
• 1 TBS of honey
• 1/2 TBS of dried oregano
• 1/2 TBS of cumin
• 1/2 TBS of chili powder
• 1/2 TBS of garlic powder
• 1/2 TBS of onion powder
• 1/2 TBS of black pepper
• 1/4 TBS of sea salt
• 1 large bay leaf

Instructions

1. In a blender or food processor, puree the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, crushed tomatoes, garlic and honey until the mixture is smooth
2. Mix together all of the dry seasoning except the bay leaf, and sprinkle it evenly on both sides of the chicken.
3. Place the chicken in the crock pot, and pour the chipotle/ tomato mixture over the top
4. Add the bay leaf on top, and close the lid. Duh.
5. You can either cook the chicken for 2-3 hours on high, or 4-6 hours on low (depending on the power of your slow cooker). After the chicken is done, remove the bay leaf and shred the chicken to pieces. It should take no effort, because it’s been simmering in deliciousness.
   1. This is the perfect way to have dinner Olivia Pope handled before you leave for work!

We served our slow chipotle chicken in a cheesy quesadilla, with shredded colby jack and pepper jack cheese!