The pepper lime chicken was very tasty. Serve with a lime wedge and salsa to make the flavor burst in your mouth!

Yesterday I decided to have a little fun in the kitchen. I had 10 chicken thighs and a lot of limes. While I whipped up my pepper-lime marinade I started thinking about mixing a bunch of spices together instead.  So I split my batch of chicken — half went into the lime marinade and the rest tossed in a spice concoction.  The result was a tasty dinner with steamed broccoli and cauliflower.

Below you’ll find the two recipes.  While I really enjoyed the rub I made, I think I’ll use garlic salt and not real garlic next time. I ran out of garlic salt last week and forgot to pick some up over the weekend.  The garlic added flavor, but burned in the oven. Also, I think I want to double up on the red pepper flakes to add a bit more heat.

For those of you on Weight Watchers, to drop the points value, I suggest you use skinless chicken breasts. I used thighs because that’s what I had in my freezer.

Pepper-Lime Chicken
Net Carbs: 2g
Weight Watchers PlusPoints: 10 (6 points if using skinless chicken breasts)
Servings: 2 chicken thighs/person

Ingredients:

• 6 Chicken Thighs, with bone and skin
• 1/3 C fresh lime juice
• 3 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 tsp dried basil
• ½ tsp ground black pepper
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3 garlic cloves, minced

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
• Place chicken in a resealable plastic bag.
• Mix together lime juice, oil, basil, pepper, salt and garlic. Pour over chicken and seal bag. Marinate in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, being sure to flip the bag half way through.
• Drain chicken then arrange chicken thighs on prepared baking sheet. Bake chicken until skin is crispy, meat is no longer pink on the bone and juices run clear, about 60 minutes.

I started calling this my paprika rub because of the dark red color. The flavors were nice, but I wished I added more heat. Next time…

Chicken Rub
Net Carbs: 0g
Weight Watchers PlusPoints: 10 (6 points if using skinless chicken breasts)
Servings: 2 chicken thighs/person

Ingredients:

• ½ tsp paprika
• ½ tsp garlic salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• ¼ tsp oregano
• ¼ tsp thyme
• ¼ tsp onion salt
• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes (double if you want more heat)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
• Mix paprika, garlic, pepper, oregano, thyme, onion and red pepper flakes together. Spring spice mixture liberally over the chicken thighs.
• Arrange chicken thighs on prepared baking sheet. Bake chicken until skin is crispy, meat is are no longer pink on the bone and juices run clear, about 60 minutes.