Healthy Barbecue Chicken with Smoked Tomato-Chile Salsa

Sep 19, 2011
Pamela Steed Hill

Healthy Barbecue Chicken with Smoked Tomato-Chile Salsa - PS Hill

Delicious, healthy barbecue chicken is as easy as a tasty spice rub and a rich, smoky tomato-chile topping to add great flavor to a grill classic.

The key to this healthy, easy chicken barbecue is simply time. Marinating lean chicken breasts in a savory, spicy rub and smoking the tomatoes and chiles for 30 minutes add extra layers of flavor and richness to common barbecue ingredients—without loading on fat and calories.

Healthy Barbecue Chicken with Smoked Tomato-Chile Salsa

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 tsp each of chile, garlic, and cayenne powders and ground cumin
1/2 tsp hot smoked paprika
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, pounded to about 1/3-inch thickness
8 campari tomatoes (or other small, round red tomatoes), halved through the stem ends
3 cayenne chiles, stems removed (If you use thicker chiles, such as jalapenos, slice them in half lengthwise after removing the stems.)
sea salt
12 oz beer or apple juice (for the smoking liquid)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 scallions, 1 cut into 4 pieces, 2 chopped
1 cup water
olive oil, for rubbing
3 tbsp cilantro leaves
1 tbsp fresh lime juice

Preparation

Combine all the spices in a small bowl and rub the spice mixture over the chicken breasts. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Bring to room temperature before grilling.
Light a smoker or prepare a grill to use as a smoker.
Toss the tomatoes and chiles with salt in a disposable aluminum pie pan or a metal pie pan lined with aluminum foil. Arrange the tomatoes in a single layer, cut-side up, and lay the chiles on top.
Pour the beer or juice into another disposable aluminum pan or a metal pan lined with aluminum foil and add the garlic cloves and 4 pieces of scallion. Place the pan over the hot coals and smoking wood chips and add the water.
Place the pan with the tomatoes and chiles on the off-heat side of the grill rack and cover the grill, leaving the vents open.
Smoke the tomatoes and chiles for 30 minutes, tossing 3 or 4 times. Remove the pan to a heat-resistant surface and let cool. Discard the smoking liquid.
While the salsa mixture cools, rub the chicken breasts with oil and sprinkle with salt. Place on the grill rack above the coals and grill until slightly charred on the outside and juicy and just cooked through on the inside, about 3 minutes per side. (If the coals are too hot to grill the breasts directly, move them to the off-heat side to finish.)
While the chicken cooks, place the smoked tomatoes, chiles, chopped scallions, cilantro, and lime juice in a processor and process until thin and finely chopped. Season with salt.
Remove the chicken to a cutting board and cool 3 minutes. Slice the breasts on the diagonal and divide among 4 plates. Spoon the salsa down the middle of the chicken slices and serve with roasted red potatoes or steamed rice, if desired.