Chipotle Grilled Chicken with Mango Salad & Wild Rice Quinoa

So tonight I was feeling very summery again, so I figured something Mexican-inspired would do the trick!  Turns out mangoes and corn were fresh and on sale at the store, so with a little bit of imagination and using random ingredients I had left over in my fridge, I put it all together for what turned out to be a light, tasty meal full of flavor!

                                                                                                                                                                  

Mexican-Inspired Chipotle Chicken with Mango Salad & Wild Rice Quinoa

Ingredients:

(Mango Salad): Fresh mango, cucumber, fennel, cilantro, white onion, sweet orange pepper, lemon juice &  rice wine vinegar

(Chicken): Chicken breast, garlic, olive oil, tequila, & canned chipotle

(Quinoa): Quinoa, fresh corn (or canned), wild rice

Method:

The first thing I did was I cooked the quinoa (with some bay leaves & veggie stock for extra flavor) and the wild rice, separately. Next I made the mango salad, chopping all the ingredients into smallish bite-sized pieces, using about a table spoon each of lemon juice & rice wine vinegar. I would usually have used a lime, but I forgot to buy one, but the lemon and vinegar turned out nicely!  I noticed the salad works A LOT better if the mango is on the firm side; a fridge-chilled mango also helps to maintain a nice crunchy texture. Next, I threw the corn on the BBQ in its husk, and then followed that with the marinated chicken breast.  By the time those were done, everything else was. I added the wild rice & corn to the quinoa with some salt & pepper, and put a little (store bought!) roast tomato-chipotle salsa on the side for colour and a bit of kick!

Thirsty?

I decided to go with a light beer again (after all, it IS summer!) so tonight I kept it pretty classic with a chilled Blue Buck from Philips Brewing here in Victoria. Delish.

All-in-all I was pretty happy with the out come tonight! I think it would be really tasty to sub the chicken for prawns, or perhaps a nice piece of halibut because it is fresh & in season right now. A note to bad BBQ cleaners such as myself - Beware of BBQ fires! Fire loves tequila!

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