Spiced Chicken with Barley

Thanks for all the suggestions on roasting chicken! I can't wait to try it out.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has had issues with the oven smoking. You'd think they'd mention those things in a recipe?

I was super busy this weekend. I was out more than I was home -- which is pretty rare for my weekends. Even though was busy I still fit in two workouts, a 3.1 mile run/walk around the indoor track at my work's gym (still working up to running a 5K outdoors) and my Sunday yoga class. It was the last class of the session and we went through all the postures we learned this session. I'm pretty sure I'll be sore tomorrow!

Dinner took awhile, but it's one of my favorite meals. I first shared the recipe in 2007. It makes a ton of food and is super filling. Plus, it uses bone-in chicken, so it's a good value. The recipe calls for chicken thighs, but I used a few thighs and a few drumsticks. You might even be able to use bone-in chicken breast if you don't like dark meat.

It was a perfect choice for a cool, rainy weekend.

Spiced Chicken with Barley
Adapted from Cooking Light. Serves 6.

1 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp ground red pepper
1 1/2 pounds bone-in chicken thighs or drumsticks, skin removed
1/2 tsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
2 (14.25 ounce) cans of less-sodium chicken broth1 1/4 cups uncooked pearl barley
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
Chopped green onions for garnish

Combine first 7 ingredients; rub chicken with half of spice mixture.Heat oil in a large nonstick saute pan with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

Add onion and red bell pepper to pan; cook over medium-high heat 3 minutes or until vegetables are lightly browned. Stir in soy sauce, broth, barley, tomatoes, and remaining spice mixture.

Add chicken to pan, nestling into vegetable mixture. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes. Uncover; simmer 10 minutes until the liquid is nearly evaporated. Let stand 15 minutes. sprinkle with green onion.

304 calories, 4.8 grams fat (sat. 1.1, mono 1.4, poly 1.5), 9.2 grams fiber, 41 grams carbs