Mandarin Grilled Chicken with Sweet Potato Fries

This is another one of my favorites. The combination of flavors just works so well together and the chicken always turns out so moist.

 Marinating the chicken:

If at all possible I do this early in the morning or even the night before.

• 1 clove fresh garlic (minced)
• 1 T. crushed red pepper flakes
• ½ tsp. cayenne
• ½ tsp. fresh ginger
• ¼ C. lime juice or OJ (depending on what I have)
• 1 T. soy sauce
• 1 can of mandarin pieces (mash the pieces up to get all that juice from the mandarins)
• 2 T. Sweet Thai sauce
• A little oil (keeps the chicken from drying out and sticking to the grill)

 

Mix everything together and pour over chicken and put it the fridge. I almost forgot. Don’t pour all of the marinade over the chicken. Keep some of it for later.

The Fries:

Cut the sweet potatoes to desired thickness and length.

This is something I find difficult to achieve these days. It has become very difficult to hold on to things.

So if you eat at my house I can’t promise that your food will be pretty.

I can promise it will taste good!

 

 

 

 

Once you have them cut the way you want. Coat the potatoes with oil. I use coconut oil.

 

In a bowl mix:

• 1 tsp. Cayenne
• 2 tsp. Chili Powder
• 1 tsp. Paprika
• 1 tsp Thyme
• ½ tsp. oregano
• ¼ to ½ C. Bread Crumbs

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat the fries with half of this mixture. Place on a cookie sheet and bake until tender flipping over occasionally. When the potatoes are tender remove from the oven and coat the fries again with the mixture. Salt and pepper to taste. Place back in the oven and continue cooking until they are slightly crispy. Remove from the oven and lightly sprinkle fresh grated parmesan cheese and fresh torn basil over the fries. Place back in the oven until crispy.

 

Of course in between here you have taken the marinated chicken out of the fridge and put it on the grill and maybe stopped to grab a nice cold drink too!

 

For the dip:

Cause fries need something to dip them in.

• 1 Clove Garlic (minced)
• ¼ tsp. Cayenne
• ½ C. Plain Yogurt (or Olive Oil Mayo)
• 1 T. Sweet Thai sauce
• A couple of dashes of Habanero sauce or finely chopped jalapenos

And here’s the secret to this dip! May sound crazy but it just doesn’t taste the same or have the needed kick without it.

• 1 tsp. Horseradish (the real stuff not the prepared stuff)
• 1 tsp. Mustard

 

 

I said before to keep some of the marinade back. The reason is to make a reduction to pour over the chicken. Makes all the difference with this chicken. Hope you enjoy this as much as my family has over the years.

I just want to take a minute to acknowledge my son. It’s been a really rough week. He has seen me struggling all week and he came out last night when I put the chicken on the grill and told me “Mom, I got this!”  Thank you Zach. Love that boy!