Pirate Chicken

Jerk sauce is about as flavorful as you can get, it has lots of spice and warming herbs like allspice and mace, along with coconuts and rum it is a hallmark of the Caribbean. It hails from Jamaica and compliments any type of poultry or meat very well, my favorite brand is Auntie Bev’s because it is delicious and has only good quality and real ingredients. Plus it is made by a local Vancouverite and it’s widely available. For more embarassingly Caucasian palates like myself it is best to start with a little bit so that the spicyness isn’t too overwhelming. I like to add some coconut milk in because it makes a really creamy sauce and helps to cool down the spice a little. I also add in broth to the sauce and cook it for awhile so that it boils down and thickens up to a rich gravy. For this recipe I used chicken thighs (dark meat), they are not as popular as leaner chicken breasts (white meat) in the health food world but they have so much more flavor and in fact they are higher in zinc, iron, several B vitamins and the fat soluble vitamins A and K. For anyone who usually sticks with the breasts it can be a nice way to mix things up a little and as a side benefit, the thighs cost noticeably less. You can use any kind of vegetables you have lying around and the more the better, or just keep it simple like I did with broccoli- the little florets hold the sauce well. I try to make a habit of topping my stir frys with some type of seeds, they are full of healthy fats and minerals but they don’t often take a center role in dishes. Just a spoonful here and there can go a long way in adding essential nutrients. Hemp hearts are my number one choice because they have a mild, nutty flavor that blends well with everything and they have a very good omega-3 content and omega-3 to omega-6 ratio. I served it over millet, a protein rich grain, cooked with broth for extra flavor but it could be served over whole grain noodles, zoodles, brown rice or cauliflower rice.