Jerk Chicken

I signed up awhile ago to get daily emails from myrecipes for dinner ideas. I like their site as I can read a recipe and the reviews from people who have made the recipe. They rate the recipe and give tips of what they liked, disliked, adjusted. The recipes are from Cooking Light, Southern Living, Sunset, Coastal Living, All You, Real Simple, and Heal.

The originally recipe is a jerk spice rub for shrimp, but I substituted chicken. Upon visiting my friend google, I came across the following history of jerk and Jamaican jerk. Jerk seasoning is a seasoning that had been traditionally used in curing chicken and beef in Jamaica and the Caribbean. The "jerk" in jerk seasoning comes from charqui, the Quecha root word for "jerky" which means dried meat. The Caribbean colonies made a lot of preserved meats because jerky was the only effective way to cure meat in the heat of the islands. As time went on, people developed their own unique cures for the different meats that they made and jerk seasoning was born.

There are many different forms of jerk seasoning in the Caribbean, but most people usually think Jamaican jerk when they hear the words "jerk seasoning". Allspice and thyme, along with heat from peppers are the ingredients that characterize traditional Jamaican jerk. It was the heat of the peppers that helped to preserve the meat while it cured. The peppers are what ensured it would be safe to eat. It is thought that many people acquired a taste for hot food as this result.
I go in stages of planning out our meals for a week. Those stages can range from planning out most night's meals to picking up sandwiches a couple times a week. Sometimes life gets in the way of my cooking plans. When I saw this recipe I knew it was a keeper and that I wanted to try it soon and I am really glad I did. The original recipe (you can find it here) calls for shrimp, but chicken tenders were on sale so that is what I used. I also doubled this as I did not feel like freezing the rest of the tenders. (Note below that I did not double the amount of oil as I did not think it was necessary) We got a lot of meals out of this and did not get tired of it one bit. I was sure my husband was going to ask for something different after having it for dinner and then lunch the next day. I was getting ready to freeze the rest of the leftovers and he made it clear that was not to be the case! This was my first time making and using a jerk spice rub and I was quite pleased with the results. This is one of my new favorites! I did make a pineapple salsa to accompany it too. I did not have all of the ingredients listed below, so I just added some peppers instead of the cucumber. The cilantro would have been a nice addition. The pineapple is a nice offset to the flavors of the chicken.

Jerk Chicken
Adapted from myrecipes

1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon paprika (I used smoked paprika as that is what I had on hand)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground thyme
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders
Cooking spray


1. Prepare grill to medium-high heat.

2. Combine first 7 ingredients. Combine oil and chicken in a large bowl; toss well to coat. Sprinkle spice mixture over chicken; toss to coat. Be sure to get the spices all over the chicken. Place on grill and cook based upon the size of your chicken. I used tenders and I think I cooked them about 4 minutes/side.

Fruit salsa: Combine 2 cups chopped fresh pineapple, 1/2 cup chopped cucumber, 1/2 cup vertically sliced red onion, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, and 2 teaspoons cider vinegar.