As many of you know my Corazon is Hispanic and in my quest to learn more about his heritage and Mexican food I have been trying to find recipes that blend my picky pallet with the delicious flavors of Mexico.  One thing I can tell you is that Mexican food is very very flavorful and for those who didn’t know it is not just about tacos and salsa!  It has given me a new respect for the power of seasoning and marinating.  Now, all of the recipes I have found are not “Mexican” but they are Latin.  What does this mean?  Well, Hispanic/Latin people come from many different places…and so do many of the Latin recipes.  I will share with you my first solo Latin dish that I made along with the experience…the original recipe is very healthy, but you can tweak it to make it your own or to make it even healthier.

I found this recipe on <a href="http://www.skinnytaste.com">www.skinnytaste.com</a>, it is called <a href="http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/06/broiled-or-grilled-pollo-sabroso.html">Pollo Sabroso</a>…which means delicious chicken and she never lied about that!  This woman is amazing with the things she creates that qualify for weight watcher points (although I am not on weight watchers).  Having been a previous weight watcher participant I know how precious those points are and I know that an item that says 4 pts is pretty healthy!  I won’t bore you by giving you the exact recipe…I will just share with you my experience in making the dish.

<strong>The Shopping Trip</strong> - This recipe is simple in that majority of the ingredients I already had in the house, so I just had to pick-up  the chicken (pollo), the sazon (actually found a box at the house that my Corazon had purchased) and some adobo seasoning.  I conducted my shopping at Publix, but most stores have the seasoning in the International or Hispanic aisle of the store.  Now, the first hurdle I came to is knowing which sazon seasoning I was supposed to buy.  The recipe stated a specific brand but what it didn’t state was that there were all kinds of types/flavors to choose from.  I went with the one made for poultry lol go figure.  My co-workers asked what exactly sazon and adobo seasonings are and they are basically a seasoned salt blend...each is made up of different seasonings.  You can make your own at home but this being my first experience with Latin cooking I said uh nope I’m going with the store bought stuff.  Additionally, I although the recipe called for thighs it was less expensive for me to get quarters (7 in the pack), so my recipe was more than the 4 points…because I also left the skin on…oh man I’m bad huh!?!?  Hey I’m in healthy training cut me a little slack!

<strong>Prepping</strong> - Alright so now I’m home and it’s time to start cooking…can I just sayyyyyyyyyyy this took all of 5 mins to prepare!  This is including all the strange looks and rereading of the recipe lol.  I was a little confused with how much adobo to put on the chicken but I decided to go with my gut and just do what felt right.  I didn’t measure it so I can’t tell you how much was enough, but each piece of chicken had seasoning on it…you could see it.  I used a big stew pot to mix my chicken because I decided to season all the chicken at once although I only cooked four of the quarters at a time.  I placed the entire pot in the refrigerator and let it marinate for about an hour and a half…but the recipe only calls for 20 mins.

Ok I need to take an intermission for a second to tell you how delicious my house smelled and I hadn’t even cooked anything!!!!  I was all excited because I was cooking my first solo latin dish and I could only imagine the shock on my Corazon’s face when he walked in the door…ok intermission is over lets get to cooking!

<strong>Cooking</strong>- After the marinating time had passed I turned my oven on broil.  Now my rack was already in the middle of the oven…I would recommend moving yours to that location if it isn’t already.  I placed 4 of the quarters on a broiling plan (the ones with the slits in it and the pan underneath to catch the drippings) skin side down.  I let it cook for a while (I didn’t time it but I’d say 15 - 20 mins or until it starts to brown)…then I flipped the chicken over.  I let it continue to cook until the chicken was browned just enough.  Again, didn’t time this just watched the chicken to ensure it didn’t burn.  I took it out the oven and let it rest for at least 5 mins.  [I actually had to cover the first batch with foil because we weren’t ready to eat].

[caption id="attachment_666" align="aligncenter" width="300"]<a href="http://thehappinessbucket.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/chickensabroso.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-666" title="chickensabroso" src="http://thehappinessbucket.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/chickensabroso.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a> Pollo Sabroso[/caption]

Ok  can we just say I wanted to slap somebody!!! THIS CHICKEN WAS DELICIOUS!!!!  OMG OMG…the first batch (original 4) after having set under the foil the skin had become more like baked chicken but the flavor was so powerful and good.  The second batch (other 3 cooked the next day) were eaten five minutes after it was made so the skin was nice and crispy.  Both times the chicken was moist and juicy…that is why it is so important to let it rest for 5 mins so the juices settle into the meat.

I was so pleased with my first solo Latin dish!  Let me just say I got a gold star for my first meal…some may get mad but I was happy when Corazon asked me if I bought it from somewhere…uh NO I made it man!  To me that is a compliment especially with it being my first time....on top of that he went back for seconds…that tells you it was good!

Please try the recipe and report back to let us know if it was Pollo Sabroso for you too!  Happy eating!