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Pollo y Verduras con Lima

 Si puedes leer esto, estás demasiado cerca.

I was hungry as fuck tonight, so I almost stopped at my favorite Mexican joint on my way home. However, I was able to exert what little willpower I had and finished driving home, where I had thawed chicken legs and random veggies. So I made chicken and veggies.

Tonight's non-chicken ingredients were kale, two radishes, a baby bella mushroom, four cloves of garlic, a piece of red bell pepper, a lime, a few sprigs of cilantro, and the last of my habanero. I stripped the kale leaf off the stem and sliced them up (separately) and diced the mushroom, bell pepper, and radish. One clove of garlic was sliced, one was minced, the the other two were slivered. I don't know if that's a real word, but it's what I call it when I slice it longways instead of across. The habanero was minced, the cilantro was chopped up, and the lime was zested and juiced.

Numbered from left to right (small brown => blue => clear => black => clear):

Bowl 1: minced garlic, minced habanero, chopped cilantro
Bowl 2: Diced bell pepper, diced radish, chopped kale stem
Bowl 3: Slivered garlic
Bowl 4: Diced mushroom, sliced garlic
Bowl 5: Chopped kale leaf

I often have trouble getting chicken legs to cook properly, so I said "Fuck it" and butterflied the bastards. I heavily seasoned the side with the bone newly exposed with some pre-made Adobo seasoning, and put it bone side down into a pan with some already hot butter and olive oil, at which point I seasoned the other side. 

I let it cook a bit on both sides, basting a bit, until it was just about done, at which point I dumped in Bowl 1 and tossed the chicken with the garlic, habanero, and cilantro. Some stuck with the chicken, some stayed in the pan, which I deglazed with the lime juice. 

After I scraped the tasty bits off the bottom of the pan, I added in Bowl 2 and let that all sauté for a bit while I literally forgot that I put habanero in until I tasted a piece of radish and about choked to death.

Then I added in Bowl 3, seasoned with a little salt and black pepper, drank a lot of water, and wiped my nose. I like spicy food, but I have to know it's coming.

Once the veggies were done, I removed them (and all liquid) from the pan into a bowl, then started up a few slices of butter and a couple tablespoons of olive oil. I let that heat, then dumped in a palmful of red pepper flakes and Bowl 3. When the garlic was close to crispy, I dumped in Bowl 5 and let the kale crisp up a bit, too, before tossing in the lime zest, giving it all a good mix off heat, and got to plating.

Veggies to the right, their garlic/habanero lime juice seeping slowly around the plate, crispy kale and garlic with some citrus heat to the left, flavorful chicken leg in the middle, and a couple little lime twists for show and tell. Still gonna get a margarita this weekend, though.

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