Peruvian Chicken with a "to-die-for" Aji Sauce

Never have I been anywhere near Peru...however, my little kitchen has been there and back. I always love roasting a chicken, but have grown tired of the typical rosemary rub and side of veggies. Hence, when I discovered the Peruvian art of flavor, I just HAD to try it. They use vinegar in a lot of their recipes which is something I never work with. I was intrigued to try this and it was amazing! The chicken marinates for 12 hours in a beer, vinegar and spice marinade. The meat will literally fall off the bone when you eat it. The chicken is perfectly complimented with an Aji sauce made of fresh jalapeños, cilantro and sour cream. This sauce gets better over time in the fridge and can go on anything your heart desires.

Peruvian Roasted Chicken

1 whole chicken
4 oz beer (I used Corona light)
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 lime, juice of
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried oregano
salt
paprika

Place whole chicken in a large dish and season generously with beer, vinegar, lime juice, salt, garlic powder, cumin and oregano. Cover tightly and marinate overnight.

Remove chicken from bag, cut chicken in half and place both halves on a large oven safe baking dish, skin side up. Discard marinade. Sprinkle chicken with paprika and a little more garlic powder and salt and bake at 425° for about 50 minutes, basting with the pan juices half way through. To test for doneness, insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken; the thermometer should read about 160°F. The chicken needs to reach an internal temperature of 165°F, but after the chicken is taken out of the oven it should rise to 165°. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before carving.

Aji Verde Sauce

2-3 jalapeños, seeded
3 tbsp fresh cilantro
2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp white vinegar
pinch cumin
salt and pepper
2 tbsp fat free sour cream
Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Serve over chicken and a side of cilantro, lime rice.

Traditionally, the sauce is served under the chicken but I poured mine all over the top of it. The flavors are ridiculously wondrous together. Try it, I swear by it!

HERBivores Rejoice!

After discussing the topic of herbs with my mom, I thought it would be wise to blog about our conclusions about the green stuff. Fresh herbs can completely transform a meal from ho-hum to wow! Especially when preparing those diets foods that lack some oomph! (sp?)
However, I have always been so reluctant to buy them. For one, they are expensive and you NEVER use all of it. Sometimes I feel like pruning the bushels it's sold in and fighting with the cashier, Father of the Bride Style. I have come to the conclusion that you MUST plan your every move for the week. I bought dill for the first time. It feels like such a random herb, but it went with my delicious Orzo Salad. See yesterdays post for details. I also had to plan out a few other recipes so that my dill purchase wasn't a complete waste. I decided to make a delicious Tzatziki Sauce to accompany all of my veggies and sandwiches for the week. It's a great substitute for Mayo, which can get boring, and it makes for an awesome addition to my cardboard flavored rice cakes. I eat them because they are only 1 WW point. Yay! The recipe for my Tzatziki is below.
Back to the Herb discussion...Barefoot Contessa showed me a great little trick to make that giant bushel of cilantro last. She recommends chopping it up and putting it into an ice cube tray. Whenever my recipe calls for cilantro I can just visit the freezer instead of my wallet. I'll let you know how that works out. Mom found a much simpler solution. She discovered bouillon style cilantro to use in your Tex-Mex soups. She said you can find it in the Hispanic section of any grocery store. I'll keep an eye out mom! :) Anyways, buying fresh herbs doesn't have to be remorseful if you just plan ahead and discover new ways to preserve them.



And yes, those are Texas shaped cilantro cubes! Nothing goes better than Texas and cilantro!

Tzatziki Sauce

1/2 cup of Low-Fat Plain Greek Yogurt or Low-fat Plain Yogurt
1/2 cup peeled and seeded cucumbers chopped fine
1/2 tsp of lemon zest
2 table spoons chopped dill
pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper

P.S. The longer it sits in the fridge the better it tastes! :)