25-Minute Skillet Chicken w/ Carrots & Leeks

By á-25010

Have you ever cooked with pickling spice? I know it seems a tad bizarre, but it's actually packed with tons of those "simmered all day" flavors that you find in your favorite roasts and stews: cinnamon, allspice, mustard seed, coriander, bay leaves, ginger, chilies, cloves, black pepper, mace, cardamom -- the whole enchilada. (Speaking of which, I also use it in my enchilada sauce.) Give it a blitz in your spice grinder -- or some good muscle with a mortar and pestle -- and it perks up chicken like whoa. Give it a shot.

Ingredients

• generous T coconut oil
• 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, patted dry and cut into about 3 pieces each
• 1 T pickling spice, ground, divided
• 1 T agave
• 1/2 T sea salt
• 3 leeks, trimmed, halved, rinsed thoroughly and halved again (leave the root end intact
• 4-5 carrots, halved lengthwise
• 1 cup stock (chicken, veggie or beef)

Preparation

Step 1

1.Preheat oven to 425F. Add coconut oil to large skillet and bring to med-high heat. Meanwhile, toss cut-up chicken with ½ T ground pickling spice, sea salt and agave. Add to skillet and brown on first side, about 3-5 minutes.

2.While chicken is browning, mix remaining ½ T pickling spice with 1 cup stock.

3.Flip chicken. Nestle carrots and leeks around chicken pieces as best as possible and pour over stock/pickling spice mixture.

4.Place skillet into preheated oven and braise for 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and veggies are crisp-tender, basting with juices a time or two, if desired. Serve chicken and veggies with those rockstar juices over potatoes, quinoa or rice. Enjoy!