Getting Hot Hot Hot!: Spiced Chipotle Honey Chicken with Sweet Potatoes

One of my fears with online recipes, and recipes in general, is that everyone has different tastes and different thresh holds of pain when it comes to a spicy dish. I'm always hesitant to try a hotter recipe because, how hot is it? It's sort of like the Goldilocks syndrome; will it be too hot, too cold, or just right?

This recipe, Spiced Chipotle Honey Chicken with Sweet Potatoes, from "Pink Parsley" (a Pinterest finding) ended up being, too hot for me, too cold for my hot sauce junky husband, and just right for my medium heat chicken wing loving brother. It's surprising that it was too hot for me considering I usually eat spicier food than my brother, but at the same token, I think it was the sweet potatoes that packed the most heat, not the chicken, and my brother didn't eat the sweet potatoes (He informed me when we sat down to dinner that he does not eat sweet potatoes, a recent aversion as far as I know-I swear sometimes I think I'm living with a toddler). Here's the recipe:

Mine. 

Hers. www.pink-parsley.com

Spiced Chipotle Honey Chicken Breasts with Sweet Potatoes
adapted from In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite, by Melissa Clark
serves 6

(*Note: I halved the recipe)

• 4 sweet potatoes (10 ounces each), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 Tbs olive oil
• 4 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, minced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tbs honey, plus more for drizzling
• 1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/4 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 lbs)
• chopped cilantro, for garnish (I used a squeeze bottle of cilantro. I find that when I buy herbs fresh I end up having to throw away half of the bunch because I never get around to using it all before it goes bad)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Place the sweet potatoes in a medium bowl.

In a small bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, chipotles, garlic, honey, vinegar, salt, cumin, and cinnamon.  Mix the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil with 2 teaspoons of the paste.  Toss with the sweet potatoes. (*Note:  I have no clue what she meant by paste.  I'm not sure if she left something out or it's just unclear, but ignore this part and just throw in the rest of the olive oil at the end and stir).

That's about as paste-like mine got.

Scatter the potatoes on the bottom of a roasting pan, and bake 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, rub the chicken breasts with the remaining paste.  (*Note: By paste I interpreted it as the leftover mixture that I mixed the potatoes in). 

Stir the potatoes.  Carefully place the chicken on top of the sweet potatoes, and continue to roast until the chicken is just cooked through (registers 165 on an instant read thermometer), about 15-20 minutes longer

Divide the potatoes and chicken evenly among serving plates and drizzle with remaining honey and garnish with cilantro.  Serve.

My own personal litmus test for heat from my home (Figure out where you stand!)


My husband: The hotter the better. If it comes with a warning and you have to sign a release so that you don't sue the restaurant for your hospitalization for ingesting their nuclear sauce than he is game.


Me: I can do some heat, but I generally stick to mild salsa (or if it's medium only use a dabble of it) I also like some hot sauce and chipotle sauce (when it's mayo based). 


My brother: He is a wild card. He generally doesn't do a lot of heat (ie: he sticks to medium wings, not hot). This recipe was just fine for him although once again he didn't eat the sweet potatoes, which held most of the heat. 

Pros: If you can handle the heat than this is the dish for you. The flavors were good, the chicken was tender, and it was awesome that you could cook your side dish and main dish in one pan at the same time. Definitely makes for a pretty easy dish. Throw some veggies or a salad on the side, and you have yourself a full and balanced meal.


Cons: What the heck does she mean by "paste"? Where did this paste come from? I think that either she meant the actual mixture that you make for the sweet potatoes and chicken or she left something out. Either way that was unclear, which is no good when you are trying to follow a new recipe. 


Revisions: Like I said earlier, I think the sweet potatoes are what really carried the heat. If you don't like your dishes too spicy, I would go ahead and leave out the potatoes and just make a really small batch of the sauce for the chicken. I barely rubbed any sauce on the chicken so it was spicy enough without burning your esophagus. 


Overall this was a solid dish. Not a "Hall of Famer", but a dish that I would make again, but hold the sweet potatoes, please.