Sunday, February 21, 2016

Beth's Sweet Spicy Sticky Bacon Wrapped Chicken


This is a guest post from my friend Beth! She and I first met when she was a Captain (she's an Air Force Academy graduate) serving in the Air Force and she had to share office space with me. We got along very well, even though she was much younger than myself, and starting her family as she was pregnant with her first son. She had a love of real food and visited her husband's family farm many times. She also sourced from local farms and markets, so many days we talked about food, recipes she'd made or I'd made, or markets we'd shopped.

Her husband is also serving in the Air Force, so when their first son arrived, Beth opted to get out of the military and become a stay at home mom (for now) around the same time I was retiring from the Air Force as a civilian employee.








































A little time went by and they next thing I knew they had orders to move to another base. I would miss seeing her and talking food with her, but we knew we would stay in touch and we have indeed thanks in many ways to social media.

When they first moved to their new base, she was able to find a local CSA (community supported agriculture) program and shared pictures each week of their fabulous "haul" from the farm. I marveled at her bounty each week and looked forward to the meals I knew she was going to cook up. In fact, I have told her many times she needs to have her own blog where she can share her experiences and knowledge with others.

She and her husband recently welcomed the arrival of their second son, and things slowed down for just a bit, but not for long, because next thing I knew she was back in the kitchen creating all these fabulous "whole foods meals." I'd asked her to share this one with us, and I'm so glad she took the time to take some photos and write it down to share here.























RECIPE
Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 pieces of thick cut bacon
Honey
Dry rub*
1/2-1 tbsp cayenne (depending on spice preference)
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dry mustard

Method
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease broiler pan well (I use spray olive oil). Make dry rub and liberally coat chicken breasts in the dry rub. Wrap each breast with 2 pieces of bacon, place on broiler pan and drizzle honey liberally over each one.

Bake 20-30 minutes, topping each with more honey 1/2 way through the baking time. Turn oven to high broil and cook for 3 minutes to crisp the bacon. Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes before serving.

Serve with rosemary sweet potatoes and green beans, or your choice of side dishes.

*If you do not want to make this spice rub, or have a favorite of your own that lends itself to spicy, sweet, and smoky flavors, feel free to mix it up and make it your own.





























Featured on Meal Plan Monday

Enjoy,

Mary

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