Mango Pico de Gallo with Mexican Chicken

After the Blueberry Pancake recipe, I had a request from Shannon for more chicken recipes, which, from my perspective, is humorous as I am teased by several people about eating too much chicken. I admit I go through phases, but I always return to the pork. Anyway, in response to Shannon's request, I have worked on a couple of recipes. I thought I'd share the first one today.

While working on this, I tried to keep in mind that you might actually want to spend some time with your family rather than the stove and oven. I've noted a time saving option for this recipe that will not impact the overall flavor too much.

I was originally planning on making this a pineapple pico, but the mangos looked really great at the store. They are usually in season in May and before that are usually hard and not nearly as sweet. I will pass them, pick up one or two to test, then put them back and just move along. Today though, when I picked them up, they did not feel like a baseball, but more like....well a mango. If the mangos do not look good, or are too expensive, you could go with pineapple or another tropical fruit. I have even considered trying to do a pomegranate pico, just have not seen any pomegranates that jump out at me screaming "PICK ME, PICK ME".

A time saving option: most stores around here have pre-made fruit picos. Just look around. If you find one you like, you could totally skip this step.

If you want homemade pico, it can be made in advance, but should not sit more than a day. I like it to be crisp so prefer to make it as close to serve time as possible. If you're short on time, you can cut up the ingredients in advance and then mix them together while the chicken is cooking.

Speaking of the chicken, you can use a skinless chicken breast. The only real difference would be to shorten the stove top cook time. Leave it in the pan just long enough to give it some color before you transfer to the oven. I opt for skin-on because it adds crispiness to the dish, and it doesn't dry out as quickly so you don't have to watch it as closely in the oven.

I served this with a very easy rice. Follow the directions on the box or bag of your favorite rice, but substitute the water for an even mixture of Water, Tomato Juice, and Chicken Stock, make a little but extra of the dry spice mix used in the chicken marinade, then add that to the liquid for the rice.

Chicken with Mango Pico de Gallo

2 tbsp Oregano, dried
1 tbsp Kosher Salt
2 tsp Cumin Seeds, ground
2 tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
2 tsp Granulated Garlic
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
4 ea Boneless, Skin on Chicken Breast
¼ cup Olive Oil
1 Mango Pico de Gallo (recipe follows)
1 ea Lime, cut into eight pieces

1 Mix together Oregano, Salt, Cumin, Pepper, Garlic and Cayenne in a bowl and stir well.

2 Place Chicken in plastic Bag.

3 Pour in Olive oil and spice mixture. Mix well and place in refrigerator for 30 minutes to marinate.

4 Preheat Oven to 350°.

5 Heat a pan over medium-high heat.

6 Remove the chicken from the bag, allowing excess marinade to drip off.

7 Place chicken in the hot pan skin side down. Cook for about 4 minutes until skin is crisp.

8 Transfer chicken to an oven safe pan, skin side up.

9 Place chicken in the 350° oven until cooked through, roughly 20-25 minutes.

10 Remove the chicken from the oven.

11 Place chicken on a plate and top with Mango Pico de Gallo.

12 Serve each plate with a lime wedge.



Mango Pico de Gallo

1 ea Mango, peeled and cut into ¼-inch cubes
½ ea Red Onion, minced
1 ea Jalapeno Chiles, stemmed, seeded and finely diced
2 tbsp Cilantro, chopped
2 ea Garlic Clove, minced
2 tbsp Lime Juice
Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper, to taste

Mix everything together and place in refrigerator in a non reactive bowl.

Enjoy !