Jerk Chicken with Mango Cucumber Salad

Hello and welcome! Vacation is wonderful, but it’s always so nice to come home. My hope was to return to milder temperatures and sunny days. What we have though is humid, thunderstormy weather. So for today’s recipe, I am again turning to my grill pan to sear these chicken breast cutlets for our Jerk Chicken with Mango Cucumber Salad. This is a super simple recipe that is perfect for an end-of-summer dinner. The mango cucumber salad is fresh, flavorful and the perfect accompaniment to the aromatic Jerk chicken. Let’s get right to it!

Jerk Seasoning Blend

Let’s start with the Jerk seasoning. You can often find Jerk seasoning at the supermarket. I could not, so we are making our own. It’s simple and you won’t use all of it for this recipe, so we can jar it to save for next time. Jerk is a Caribbean seasoning blend with warm spices giving it amazing savory flavor; slightly sweet, slightly spicy; it is a wonderful blend. You can increase the heat as you like, but for this blend, we keep the heat dialed down.

Combine sea salt, onion powder, dried thyme, garlic powder, brown sugar, cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, ground allspice, black pepper and cayenne pepper in a jelly jar. Fix the lid and vigorously shale to combine. Let’s move on to the chicken breasts.

Dry Marinate the Chicken

We are making 4 chicken breast cutlets. I have two chicken breasts that we will slice in half horizontally to create 4 thin breast cutlets. Use a thin shark knife (like a utility knife) to slice the chicken breasts in half horizontally. Place each piece of chicken on a small sheet tray and cover both sides with the dry Jerk spice mixture. Pat the seasoning onto the chicken breasts and set aside.

Mango Cucumber Salad

While the chicken sits, let’s make the mango cucumber salad. I have one mango, one small cucumber, and 1/4 of a medium red onion.

Slice the onion into thin wedges, from root end to stem end. Toss the sliced onion in a bowl with lime juice and season with a pinch of kosher salt and black pepper. Slice the cucumber in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a small spoon. Then slice each half into thin half moons. Add the sliced cucumber to the bowl with the onion and lime juice.

For the mango, slice off the two halves, just outside the center pit. Then use a thin knife to make slices in the flesh of each half. Like slicing an avocado, make the thin slices, and then use a large spoon to scoop the slices out of the skin. Add the slices to the bowl with cucumber and onion.

Stir to coat the salad ingredients in the lime juice and seasoning. Place the salad in the fridge while we grill the chicken.

Grill the Jerk Chicken

Drizzle the seasoned chicken in the sheet tray with drizzles of vegetable oil. Make sure each breast half has a drizzle of oil, no need to coat the whole breast with oil.

Let that sit and place your grill pan over the stove burners to preheat. Heat the grill over high heat. Flick the surface with a little water to test its readiness; if the water drops sizzle and immediately steam off, brush the grill with vegetable oil. Reduce the burners to medium-high.

Lay each breast on the hot grill. Let the chicken grill for about 3-4 minutes on each side. The chicken breasts are ready when they are firmer to to the touch and temp at 165 degrees F. Place the grilled Jerk chicken breasts on a clean sheet tray and set aside to rest.

Finishing Touches

Roughly chop cilantro (or use whole leaves) to get about 1/4 cup worth of chopped cilantro. Add this to the mango cucumber salad and stir to combine.

I am serving this Jerk Chicken with Mango Cucumber Salad with some reheated leftover coconut rice; which is a wonderful side to this dish. Serve one or two Jerk chicken cutlets over rice with the mango cucumber salad alongside.

This is such a wonderfully satisfying dish with the warming spices from the Jerk seasoning; the cool, sweet, refreshing flavors of the mango cucumber salad all coming together with coconut rice to create a savory, umami-filled combination of tropical flavors perfect for these last days of summer.

I hope you give this recipe a try before this season’s mangoes are gone! For another great dish with tons of savory tropical flavors, try Tropical Cobb Salad with Mango – it’s a dish that you will want to make again and again! Take care and be well, xo Kelly

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Jerk Chicken with Mango Cucumber Salad

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Dinner, Main Course – Caribbean

By Kelly Djalali – Serves: 2-4

Prep Time: 20 Minutes – Cooking Time: 6-8 Minutes – Total Time: ~30 Minutes

Warming spices of Jerk seasoning; cool, sweet, refreshing flavors of mango cucumber salad come together to create an umami-rich summer dish.

Ingredients

• Jerk Seasoning Blend
• 2 tbsp. Onion Powder
• 1 tbsp. Garlic Powder
• 1 tbsp. Dried Thyme
• 1 tbsp. Sea Salt
• 2 tsp. Ground Allspice
• 1 tsp. Ground Cloves
• 1 tbsp. Ground Ginger
• 2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
• 2 tbsp. Brown Sugar
• 2 tsp. Black Pepper
• 1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
• Jerk Chicken
• 2 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, sliced in half lengthwise to make 4 cutlets
• Jerk Seasoning Blend
• Vegetable Oil
• Mango Cucumber Salad
• 1/4 Medium Red Onion, sliced in thin wedges (from root to stem)
• 2 tbsp. Fresh Lime Juice
• Pinch of Kosher Salt
• Pinch of Black Pepper
• 1 Ripe Mango, sliced into thin strips
• 1 Small Cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and sliced into thin half moons
• 1/4 cup Chopped (or whole leaf) Fresh Cilantro

Instructions

Jerk Seasoning Blend

1

Combine sea salt, onion powder, dried thyme, garlic powder, brown sugar, cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, ground allspice, black pepper and cayenne pepper in a jelly jar. Fix the lid and vigorously shake to combine.

Dry Marinate the Chicken

2

Place the four chicken breast cutlets on a small sheet tray and cover both sides with the dry Jerk spice mixture. Pat the seasoning onto the chicken breasts and set aside.

3

Add the sliced onion to a medium bowl and add the lime juice, kosher salt and black pepper.

Mango Cucumber Salad

4

Add the cucumber and mango slices and stir to combine. Place in fridge until service.

Jerk Chicken

5

Drizzle the seasoned chicken in the sheet tray with drizzles of vegetable oil. Make sure each breast half has a drizzle of oil, no need to coat the whole breast with oil.

6

Let that sit and place your grill pan over the stove burners to preheat. Heat the grill over high heat. Flick the surface with a little water to test its readiness; if the water drops sizzle and immediately steam off, brush the grill with vegetable oil. Reduce the burners to medium-high.

7

Lay each breast on the hot grill. Let the chicken grill for about 3-4 minutes on each side. The chicken breasts are ready when they are firmer to to the touch and temp at 165 degrees F. Place the grilled Jerk chicken breasts on a clean sheet tray and set aside to rest.

8

Just before serving, stir the cilantro into the mango cucumber salad.

9

Serve Jerk Chicken cutlets with rice and mango cucumber salad.

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