Asian Chicken Thighs & Maple Balsamic Brussels Sprouts

Two posts in one day, what?! If I were smart, I would post this later, but I'm stuffed full of delicious food so I have to share, right now! :P

My original plan was to make a seafood curry tonight, but it's tough to do that without curry paste so instead I set to making these Asian Chicken Thighs that were recently posted on Nom Nom Paleo. You know how much I love a Nom Nom recipe so it was only a matter of time. The marinade was so easy to whip up in the blender so I got the chicken marinating and then threw in a load of laundry and got the dogs walked. When I got back, the chicken went into the oven and I set to making the brussels sprouts to go with them.

I had originally intended to roast them in bacon fat since the oven was already on, but it's such a beautiful spring day that that just felt wrong (not that cooking with bacon fat can ever be wrong). Instead, I trimmed and washed a pound of brussels sprouts, then thinly sliced them into "discs". I heated some macademia nut oil in my cast iron skillet over medium high heat, then tossed the brussels sprouts in it and seasoned them with salt & pepper. I let them caramelize, stirring occasional until there were lots of nice crispy edges:

Then I turned the heat down a bit and added 1 T each of balsamic vinegar and maple syrup and a big handful of toasted pecans and cooked them until the liquid turned into a glaze:

 

Since I used boneless, skinless thighs instead of skin on as the recipe called for, the marinade was sticking a bit to the chicken so I moved the rack up and broiled the chicken for a few minutes on each side to crisp them up:

  

I served the chicken and brussels sprouts with a simple green salad:

The maple brussels sprouts were a nice change for me and this chicken marinade, like many of the recipes on the Nom Nom site is a total winner. There's no doubt these thighs will go into the regular rotation, but I can't wait to use it on chicken wings next!