You'll have to add Chinese Five Spice to your grocery list this week to make this recipe, unless you already have it in your pantry. It's a flavorful Asian spice that goes well with chicken. I love the addition of coconut milk in this recipe ~ it tenderizes the chicken so well while marinating!
You can grill both the chicken and the asparagus if you'd like. Spring here in Utah means a wide variety of temperatures, so when I made this dish it was a brisk 39 degrees outside. Cold! So I opted to saute it inside instead of freezing while manning the grill outside.
Asian Coconut 5 Spice Chicken & Asparagus
- 2/3 cup unsweetened coconut milk
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 TBSP lime juice
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 TBSP Chinese 5 Spice powder
- 2 large chicken breasts, quartered, then pounded thin
- 1 bunch fresh asparagus
In a small bowl, whisk together all of the marinade ingredients {everything up top except the chicken and asparagus.} Reserve 1/4 cup of the marinade for the asparagus.
Pound the chicken breasts very thin.
Now, we are a family of 6, but we don't eat a lot of meat at each meal. So what I did was divide the chicken and remaining marinade into 2 separate ziplock bags. One was for tonight's dinner. The other I labeled then put in the freezer for a future dinner. As the chicken thaws in the bag it marinates and is perfect by dinnertime!
Wash and cut off the tough ends of the asparagus. Place the stalks in a large ziplock bag, along with the 1/4 cup reserved marinade. Seal the bag and mix by lightly shaking until all the veggies are coated.
Store both the chicken and the asparagus in the fridge for at least a couple hours. I try and turn the bags over/ shake around the marinade every 30-45 minutes to make sure it's all evenly coated.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lay a piece of parchment paper out on a cookie sheet. Dump the asparagus and marinade out onto the paper and spread so that no asparagus overlaps.
Bake for 15 minutes, then broil for an additional 2-3 minutes.
At the same time you're preheating the oven, set a large skillet on medium heat on the stove. Add in about 2 TBSP sesame oil {or olive oil if you don't have sesame oil.}
Dump the bag of chicken and marinade in and cook, covered for about 6-7 minutes per side.
It ends up so both the chicken and asparagus are done at about the same time! I like to serve it with white rice or rice pilaf.
ENJOY!
