Peruvian Pan Roasted Chicken

There's a restaurant in St. George, Utah called Viva Chicken that I really like.  Since its a 4 1/2 hour drive, I don't get there as often as I would like.  I looked around for some recipes that might be similar and I've done 3 different dishes.

This is a super easy version of the chicken. I like to buy the frozen, boneless, skinless chicken thighs from Costco (I love chicken breast too, but the thighs bake up so nice and moist).

I used this recipe for the marinade, but I just dumped it in a zipper bag with the chicken thighs for about an hour.  I pounded the thighs a bit before marinating so that they were an even thickness.

To make a complete meal, I started with a glass baking dish and microwaved some baby red potatoes and fresh green beans (add 1/4 water and cover with plastic wrap) until they were tender, about 5-6 minutes.  Empty and left over water, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and put in a 400 degree oven.  If there's enough space in the vegetable pan, add the chicken--but if not, put the chicken in another parchment lined pan next to the vegetables and bake for about 15 minutes until cooked to 160 degree internal temp.


Another recipe I've tried from Viva Chicken is the stuffed avocado.  The fastest version is to buy the quinoa salad at Costco, balsamic glaze from Trader Joes and Sriacha mayo from the condiment aisle.  Pick a ripe avocado and cut it in half.  Spoon some quinoa salad into the hole, drizzle with balsamic and mayo.  If you want to add some chicken from the recipe above, it makes for a great lunch.

The last recipe I made was their chopped salad.  At the restaurant, they use the chicken, but I made it with leftover roast and it was delicious. Make a bed of lettuce (whatever kind you like) and top with avocado slices, corn (cut fresh off the cob is yummy, but thawed, frozen is fine), mango, crispy bacon, cilantro,  red cabbage, crunchy fried chickpeas (find them in the bulk bin at Winco) and use a cilantro ranch dressing (Costco sells one in the refrigerator section).