Recipe: Southwest Skinny Chicken

Southwest Skinny Chicken

I love the ease of a whole chicken—and the thriftiness! In this recipe, we skin a whole chicken (it takes just a minute), then marinate it for 15 minutes in lime juice and Mexican spices. Once brought to pressure, the bird takes only 10 minutes to cook, and with the skin removed it's virtually fat-free—naturally! This is a terrific dish all year round, but this tangy lime taste is especially good in summer, when it's far too hot to consider roasting a chicken in the oven.

1 whole chicken
5 cloves garlic, peeled
3 limes
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon ground dried chile, preferably pasilla or other dark red chile powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 carrot, sliced in 1-inch lengths on the diagonal
1 onion, sliced in half then into rings
2 stalks celery, sliced on the diagonal in 1-inch lengths

1. Rinse the chicken under running water, rubbing to remove bacteria. Skin the chicken by pulling the skin off with your hands, using a knife if needed (don't worry about the little bit of skin on the wings, which is almost impossible to remove easily).

2. Stab the chicken about 20 times all over with a fork and place in the pressure cooker. If you have a mini-chopper or hand blender, add the garlic to the chopping bowl and process until chopped. Squeeze in the juice from the limes and process with the c umin, oregano, thyme, chile, and salt. Rub this mixture all over the chicken, pouring any excess into the pot. Let marinate for 15 minutes.

3. Place the carrots, onion and celery in the sides of the pot around the chicken. Lock the lid in place and bring the pressure to high. Cook at this pressure, adjusting the flame as needed, for 10 minutes. Use the natural release method.

Serving Suggestion: The chicken will have a nice, red-yellow color from the spices. Serve it with the vegetables and juices. Cornbread, tortillas, rice and beans are all excellent sides for this dish.

Global Gourmet's Pressure Cooker Recipes:

Kuhn-Rikon's Euro Cooking Online

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