Spice Rub Chicken with Mango Salsa

It’s September 1^st.  Wait a minute, are you serious?  Where did the summer go?  I swear, the older you get, the faster time flies – it’s scary.  (And I’m about to be one year older…also terrifying…)  But from what I can remember of the blur that was summer, it was all pretty great.  I moved into some new digs (and spent a few months HGTV’ing the place), threw a few dinner parties and BBQ’s with great friends, traveled to Canada, Maine and the Cape, and started a cool new job. Please note, the aforementioned activities can also be subbed-in for my lack of blog posts .

Yes, it’s been a great summer, but I still can’t believe it’s over.  With Labor Day weekend on the horizon, here’s a great recipe to savor the last of those summer flavors: Spice-Rubbed Chicken with Mango Salsa.  Go fire up the grill, pub a lime in that Corona and cheers to one last “summer” hurrah!

Ingredients: (Truthfully, I don’t really measure for this recipe, but these are a good gauge.  Feel free to add more/less as you wish)

Spice Rub Chicken:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cumin
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• Salt & pepper
• 4-6 chicken breasts

Mango Salsa

Directions:

1.)    In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper.

2.)    Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Coat both sides of the chicken with the spice mixture.  Cover the baking sheet/chicken with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you’re ready to grill (at least 20 min).

3.)    In the meantime, make the mango salsa and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve – this allows the flavors to meld.

4.)    Remove the chicken from the fridge 10 min prior to grilling to allow for even cooking. (Perfect amount of time to pre-heat the grill and open a bottle of wine, beer, shake up a margarita, etc.)

5.)    Grill the chicken for 7 minutes on both sides, or longer depending on thickness.  Let the chicken rest for 10 min.

6.)    Serve with mango salsa and enjoy!

Bon appetit!

- Christina