Chili Chicken with Peach-Lime Sauce
Peaches are one of my favorite summer fruits. It actually might be my absolute. I always load up on them at the farmer’s market every week. I usually use them in desserts and salads. But every so often I like to add them to dinners for a little pop of sweetness, and this chicken dish from Cooking Light is a perfect example.
What’s great about this recipe is how versatile it is. You can make it from late June until at least September because that’s peach season. And every time you make it, it might be slightly different depending on the peaches. See, while there are four months of peach season, those four months bring several different varieties, over 300 in fact. There’s the O’Henry, July Flame, Donut, August Lady, Saturn, Regal, Autumn Flame… you get the picture. I’m partial to the Lady peaches myself. They’re sweet and tart and super juicy. I wait all year for peach season and then constantly ask the vendors when they’ll get the Lady peaches because they’re so good. They also happen to be yellow peaches because I prefer the yellows over the whites. The whites are just too sweet for me. Yes, I like my peaches to be a little more tart, which they are, so I use yellow peaches. But if you prefer white, go ahead and use them.
It’s not just the peaches that are interchangeable though, you can also change how you cook the chicken. I sautéed it in a pan on the stove since that’s what the recipe called for, but you could just as easily grill the chicken and the peaches for a nice smoky flavor. Like I said, versatile; especially since the sauce spooned over the chicken is made with peach preserves. But that’s another change I made. Instead of peach jam, I used pluot. It was a little more tart, but when combined with the peaches, was absolutely wonderful. Of course the fact that the preserves I used was amazing, didn’t hurt.
While I made this dish on the stove, I’ll definitely grill it next time. After all the days are longer and quite warm now that we’re into August… and here in Los Angeles that warm weather will take us well into September and October. And since peaches are available until at least September, why not whip up this chicken dish for dinner one night? It’s delicious and super easy… no matter if you make it on the stove or the grill.
Notes
Adapted from Cooking Light
Ingredients
- zest of 1 lime
- 1 tablespoon of lime juice
- 1/3 cup peach preserves
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 peaches sliced
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the lime zest, juice and preserves until combined and set aside.
- Sprinkle the chicken with chili powder, salt and pepper on both sides.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until done, about 6 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a platter, tent with foil and set aside.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the peaches to the same skillet. Stir occasionally until starting to soften, about 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, add the preserve mixture and stir until smooth.
- Spoon the peach sauce over the chicken and serve immediately.
