Quick Chicken Mole from You CAN trust a skinny cook

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Allison Fishman hasn’t always been comfortable in the kitchen. It’s that discomfort that pushes her to teach others. A decade of corporate work at a dot.com led to weight gain, and her meager kitchen skills weren’t cutting it. Switching gears, in 2001 she headed to the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. Today, she’s a cooking teacher, food writer and recipe developer with a master’s degree in food studies from New York University.
Best known as co-host of Lifetime’s “Cook Yourself Thin” and TLC’s “Home Made Simple,” she has transferred her experiences working for Martha Stewart, Saveur and Cooking Light into her new cookbook, “You Can Trust A Skinny Cook: 140 Recipes That Love You Back”

Here’s a Quick Chicken Mole recipe from the book:

“Mole is a flavorful Mexican sauce that feels slightly naughty because it’s usually made with chocolate. Mole can be very time-consuming, so we’re short-cutting the process with flavorful store-bought ingredients like salsa and pantry spices.

This recipe might just become a regular in your rotation; it’s almost too easy for how tasty it is.”

Kitchen Tip: Slow-Cook It
To make Chicken Mole in the slow cooker, put all the ingredients (minus the oil) into the ceramic insert of the slow cooker. Since you’re skipping the sauté step, you’ll save 200 calories, about 50 calories per serving.

Skinny Tip: Bone In, Skin Off?
Crisp chicken skin is snappy and delicious, but braised chicken skin is soft, flaccid, and just plain mediocre, which is why we remove it for this dish. Dark meat like chicken legs and thighs are the right choice for braising because they stay tender and moist, as they have more intramuscular fat. Remove the outer skin and enjoy the benefits of the fat within.

Nutrition Information (Per Serving): Calories 368, Carbs 12g, Fiber 4g, Protein 43g, Total Fat 16g, Saturated Fat 3g

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Season the chicken with 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt and put the chicken, flesh side down, into the hot skillet. Cook until golden, 6 to 8 minutes. You may need to brown the chicken in batches; do not crowd the pan.

2. Turn the chicken over and add the chili powder, oregano, and cocoa to the pan. Stir the spices into the oil and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the salsa and 1 cup water, and bring to a simmer. Cook, partially covered, until the chicken has cooked through and the sauce has thickened, 20 to 25 minutes.

3. Cut the lime in half, and add the juice from one half to the sauce. Stir in up to 1?3 cup additional water to thin the sauce, if needed. Cut the remaining lime half into wedges; serve the warm chicken with the sauce and garnish with lime wedges.

Yield:	serves 4

What's Needed:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 pounds bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed, about 8 thighs
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
One 16-ounce jar of your favorite salsa
1 cup water, or more as needed
1 lime

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Recipe brought
to you by Amy Tobin

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