Cayenne Chicken with Avocado Salsa

This meal left Fred and I sweating! We upped the cayenne and LOVED it! That is, until about an hour after eating dinner, when the heat finally hit our bellies in an angry wave of indigestion.

Cayenne Chicken:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground pepper

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tbsp. olive oil

Avocado Salsa:

1 whole avocado

1/2 cup diced red onion

1/2 lime

1/4 tsp. cumin

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

I served this meal with rice, so before getting started, I got out my rice cooker and placed 1/2 cup of rice, 1 cup of water and 1 chicken bullion cube in the cooker and hit cook! The bullion cube is a nice trick for adding flavor to your rice. You can also use chicken broth instead of water for the same flavor effect.

Start by combining salt, pepper and cayenne pepper in a small bowl. Rub dry spices onto chicken and set aside. Pour olive oil into a frying pan over medium heat and when hot carefully add pieces of rubbed chicken one at a time into the pan. Cook until lightly browned on both sides, approximately 5 to 8 minutes per side. Once browned, place the chicken pieces into a 350 degree oven until fully cooked, this will ensure that the chicken remains moist and doesn't dry out too much on the stove top. Also, the cayenne pepper will send your nose into fury when it begins to burn off, so finishing it in the oven will give your senses a break. I used my cast iron skillet to brown the chicken and its usefulness allowed me to place the pan directly in the oven to finish. I love love love my cast iron skillet, in case you couldn't tell!

Once the chicken is in the oven, you can begin on the avocado salsa. I should have taken a useful video on how to slice and dice up an avocado, but I didn't, so here's a short video FYI a la YouTube:

Once diced, squeeze in the juice of half a lime and fold in diced red onion and spices to finish the salsa. When I make guacamole, the recipe is almost identical, except I mash up the avocado slightly, but not completely, after dicing and then add in some diced tomatoes.

Cover fully cooked chicken with avocado salsa and serve with rice, fresh lime quarters, warm tortillas and a cold glass of pinot grigio for a visually and tastefully delicious meal!