Sweet and Spicy Baked Chicken Wings


On a recent episode of The Chew, Daphne Oz and Mario Batali had a chicken wing cook-off, and after seeing Daphne’s ingredients (and that hers were baked), I had to try them right away. Needless to say, they did not disappoint. I love the fact that the marinade on these babies caramelize while baking, which makes them a bit crispy. Oh, and the dipping sauce… yummy!!! Since I’m a huge fan of anything sweet, the sauce was perfect for me, but if you’d like it with a little more twang, reduce the half cup of honey by a couple of tablespoons (1/2 cup = 8 tablespoons).

Sweet and Spicy Wings

Ingredients

For the Wings:

  • 2 dozen chicken drumettes
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar
  • 1 tsp. crushed red pepper
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 2 tbsp. low sodium soy sauce
  • 1/2 tsp. chili powder
  • 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
  • 2 garlic cloves (minced)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

For the Dipping Sauce:

  • 1 tbsp. sambal chili paste
  • 1/2 cup Honey
  • 2 tbsp. low sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp. grated ginger

Directions

  1. Combine all the ingredients for the drumettes in a bowl and toss the wings to coat.
  2. Place in the refrigerator and marinate a minimum of two hours and preferably over night.
  3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove drumettes from the marinade and season with salt and pepper.
  4. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and arrange the drumettes so they are not touching. Brush generously with the leftover marinade.
  5. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes, or until deep golden brown, rotating the tray half way through and flipping the wings over.
  6. While chicken is baking, combine all of the dipping ingredients and whisk together.
  7. Serve the drumettes with the dipping sauce.
Shown with my guiltless blue cheese dressing.
Shown with my guiltless blue cheese dressing.

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Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken Thighs


I discovered this recipe last summer and totally fell in love with it, and just realized that I didn’t post it on here. My bad. The combination of the spices with the cider vinegar and honey, makes this both a sweet and spicy dish, which I just can’t seem to get enough of.

Yields: 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 2 tsp. chili powder
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1 tsp. paprika
  • 1/2 tsp. ground red pepper
  • 8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
  • Cooking spray
  • 6 tbsp. honey
  • 2 tsp. cider vinegar

Directions

  1. Preheat broiler.
  2. Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken to bowl; toss to coat.
  3. Place chicken on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray.
  4. Broil chicken 5 minutes on each side.
  5. Combine honey and vinegar in a small bowl, stirring well.
  6. Remove chicken from oven; brush 1/4 cup honey mixture on chicken. Broil 1 minute.
  7. Remove chicken from oven and turn over. Brush chicken with remaining honey mixture. Broil 1 additional minute or until chicken is done.
Source: Cooking Light

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Spicy Edamame


I’m a HUGE fan of sushi, and always have to order edamame as a starter whenever I go to a Japanese restaurant. One of my favorite sushi restaurants is Sashi in Manhattan Beach, which is where I went for my birthday dinner last year. Naturally, we had to get an order of their edamame, which was not your run-of-the-mill edamame, as it’s served 2 ways; with Indian spices and also, sea salt. The Indian-spiced batch was incredibly tasty, and since that time, I wanted to recreate something similar at home. I came across this spicy edamame recipe using Japanese 7 spice, and can’t begin to tell you how many batches of it I’ve made. Actually, I’m making some more right now! Japanese 7 spice, or Shichimi Togarashi in Japanese, is a blend of spices that contains red chili, seaweed, sansho pepper, orange peel, poppy seeds and white and black sesame seeds. It’s a popular table condiment in Japan, where it’s used to add heat and flavor to lots of different dishes. This is the original recipe I found, but will make a notation as to how I like to prepare it. I also like to dip the edamame in a spicy Japanese mayo, so I’ll include a link to that recipe as well.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb edamame
  • 2 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
  • 2 1/2 tbsp Japanese 7 spice
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp garlic
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Japanese spicy mayo

Directions

  1. Cook edamame according to package directions & drain. (I like to add a little garlic and ginger powder to the water.)
  2. Place edamame in a large bowl. Add oil and toss to coat, adding more if needed.
  3. Add the remaining ingredients & mix together well.

For my version of this recipe, I eliminate the cayenne pepper and garlic, and add just a little bit of sugar. I love the combo of sweet & spicy.

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