Thank You, Martha

I pull my recipe inspiration from all over the place but lately, my daily recipes from my Martha Stewart iPhone app have all proved to be dinnertime winners. Just as I was making my grocery list and menu for the week, my phone buzzed, as it does everyday at approximately 2:45pm and this recipe popped up. I made it Tuesday night and can't wait to make this gem again. I have found that one of my favorite things to use in my cooking is fruit. Our minds tell us that fruit should only be used in sweet dishes but I am a fan of mixing sweet and savory and using fruit in non-conventional ways. I have never paired mango with chicken but I can tell you now that I will be doing it more often. It was a sweet surprise in each bite and the fresh ginger and cilantro added an extra pop. To cut the heat, you could leave out the jalapeno all together but I love a little spice so I happened to add even more peppers than the recipe called for, and even left in the seeds! (the part of the pepper that really pops with heat)

Chicken with Mango & Ginger

Recipe from Martha Stewart

1 large mango, peeled, pitted and cut into 1/4 inch wedges

8 chicken cutlets (I used 4 chicken breasts and filleted them)

1 piece of fresh ginger (about 1 inch), peeled and cut into matchsticks

1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1 medium jalapeno pepper (I used 2)

Coarse salt and ground pepper

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Lime wedges, for serving

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place mango wedges in center of four-inch-long pieces of parchment. Top with chicken, ginger, cilantro and jalapeno. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Fold parchment into a twist or envelope shape and tuck neatly. Place packets on a baking sheet and bake until packets are puffed up and chicken is cooked through. 18-20 minutes. (my chicken breast fillets were a bit thicker than cutlets, so I cooked for 25 minutes and it was perfect. Serve with lime wedges.

Tip for cooking with fresh ginger:

A friend of mine recently taught me this trick and I am obsessed. I now keep my fresh ginger in the freezer. I just pull it out when I'm ready to use it. Its easy to peel then just cut or grate!