Clean and Saucy

I'm usually pretty exhausted come Friday nights - between waking up at 4:30a to hit the gym (seriously) and dealing with the whole commute-work-commute-kids-cook-thing (aka, life), so on most Friday nights we grill out or order in. On the rare and exciting occasion we actually venture out, but not too often these days.

Tonight is a grill night, so I decided to whip up a super-quick homemade BBQ sauce from one of my favorite sources, Clean Eating magazine.

A note about Clean Eating: A few years ago, when I decided to revamp my eating habits (and my entire family's, btw), I happened upon Clean Eating magazine. It was honestly everything I was looking for: healthy, low-sodium recipes that are easy to prepare, with family-friendly options and not totally wacky ingredients. Major score, people. If you haven't, check it out.

Sweet Tomato Barbecue Chicken
Source: Clean Eating, April/May 2011

Note: The recipe in its entirety includes homemade slaw and grilled bread. I just made the BBQ sauce portion tonight. Therefore, I won't include the nutritional breakdown.

Ingredients:

• 4 4oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin
• Ground pepper (skip)
• 1/4 c. no-salt added tomato paste
• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp pure maple syrup (just used whatever syrup we had on hand)
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt (skip)
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 tsp EVOO (had to use canola - out of evoo)

Directions:

• In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1/2 c. water, tomato paste, vinegar, maple syrup, Worcestershire, garlic, onion powder, salt and pepper flakes,
• Bring sauce to a boil on medium-high heat, continue boiling for 3-4 minutes or until mixture reduces to 1/2 c.
• Remove from heat, stir in oil, divide sauce between 2 small bowls and let cool completely.



Two small bowls!

• Sprinkle black pepper on both sides of chicken breasts. Place chicken on grill or grill pan and cook for 3 minutes on medium-high. Flip chicken over, brush 2 tbsp sauce over top and cook for 3 minutes. Again, flip chicken over, brush with 2 tbsp sauce and cook for one minute. Finally, flip chicken over and spoon remaining sauce over and spoon remaining 1/4 c. sauce over top. Cook for one more minute or until no longer pink in center.

Reviews:
Clean plate club all around! We each paired the meal with leftovers from previous meals (mashed potatoes, pasta salad), and this was a home run with everyone.

Who doesn't love grilled chicken?