Healthy Chicken Pepian | Slender Kitchen

Having some computer problems so going to keep this short and sweet – this recipe by Elie Kriegar is wonderful – spicy, a bit tangy from the tomatillos, and earthy from the pumpkin seeds. If you are wondering about pepian – it is a Mexican mole sauce made with pumpkin seed that normally takes hours to make, however this quick and simple version is delicious. I actually followed this recipe word for word for the most part, just added a couple of extra jalapenos because I like the heat. One change I did make though is the serving size. The recipe calls for 1.5 lbs of chicken which only translates into 4 servings and seems like a lot to me. I got about 6 servings from the recipe so the points value was only around 6-7. This recipe would work great in the slow cooker with chicken thighs.

Healthy Chicken Pepian
Servings: 1 chicken breast and 2/3 cup sauce
Serving Size: 6
Nutritional Info : 440 calories, 23 g of fat, 15 g of carbohydrates, 4 g of fiber, 43 g of protein * 10 P+

Ingredients

1 pound fresh tomatillos
1 large poblano pepper (about 2 1/2 to 3 ounces), seeded and cut into 4 pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup raw unsalted pumpkin seeds
5 peppercorns
2 whole allspice
1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seed
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves, plus 1/4 cup for garnish1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2-3 medium (2-inch) jalapeno pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 (6-ounce) boneless skinless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/2-inch thickness
Lime wedges

Instructions

1. Preheat the broiler. Cut the tomatillos into quarters. Toss tomatillos and poblano with 2 teaspoons of the oil,salt, and pepper, and place on a baking sheet. Broil until charred, about 10 minutes.

2. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Add pumpkin seeds, peppercorns, allspice, and cumin and toast until pumpkin seeds are fragrant, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

3. In same saute pan, heat 2 teaspoons oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes, add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.

4. Place tomatillos, poblano, onions and garlic, cilantro, chicken broth, jalapeno, toasted seeds and spices and salt in a blender and blend on high until totally smooth, about 30 seconds.

5. Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil in skillet and cook the chicken until browned on both sides and nearly cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Add pepian sauce to skillet, covering chicken pieces. Bring to a simmer and cook an additional 3 to 5 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Serve chicken topped with sauce and garnished with cilantro and lime wedges.

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3 Response to Chicken Pepian

Shannon on June 16, 2012

I am out of town for work during the week so I made this as a freezer meal to take with me for next week (along with a few other of your recipes). It is very very good! The only problem I had was I couldn’t get the pumpkin seeds chopped up enough in the food processor. I spent half of the meal picking or spitting out seeds! LOL! I will probably omit them next time!
- Kristen on June 20, 2012
  
  Glad you liked it! I should have mentioned it in the recipe but next time get the pumpkin seeds that are already shelled and use those. That way you don’t have to worry about taking them out of the shells yourself.
  - Shannon on June 20, 2012
    
    Yeah….I’m not familiar with pumpkin seeds obviously! I didn’t even THINK about shells…no shells.
    Lesson learned!