Chicken Breast with “Apples,” Poblanos, Tomatillo Avocado Salsa, and Goat Cheese
This dish features juicy chicken breast served with sweet tart “apples” balanced with heat from roasted poblanos and tomatillo salsa tempered with creamy goat cheese. Zucchini cooked in lemon juice and sweetener with spices makes a very convincing keto apple substitute.
Oil peppers and roast at 425ºF until blistered all over, turning every few minutes, about 15 minutes. Transfer to bowl and cover with plastic. Let sit for 15 min to steam. Peel skin off, remove seeds, and slice into 1/4 inch thick strips. Set aside.
While the peppers roast, prepare the “apples” by heating a tablespoon butter in nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Quarter zucchini lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch pieces. Add the zucchini slices, lemon juice, salt, cinnamon, and monk fruit. Cook over medium high heat until the zucchini are soft, beginning to brown, and the liquid is almost gone, about 15 minutes. Adjust seasoning with lemon juice and monk fruit - you want it to be sweet and tart. Set aside.
Season the chicken breasts with salt. In a heavy skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken pieces on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Decrease the heat to medium, add the garlic paste and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add in the chile powder, oregano, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice, water, and monk fruit. Cook, uncovered until the liquid is reduced to a syrup and the chicken is cooked, another 10-15 minutes. Let chicken rest for 10 minutes then slice the breasts into 1/4-inch thick strips and return the strips to the pan.
While chicken cooks, prepare the salsa by adding all ingredients to a blender and pureeing until smooth. Set aside.
To serve, mix the “apples” and poblanos with a bit of salsa. Place the veggie mix onto a plate and top with slices of chicken, spooning the sauce from the chicken over top. Add more salsa to taste. Sprinkle with goat cheese and fresh cilantro, serve.
Notes
The nutrition facts are assuming you will use half of the tomatillo avocado salsa.