Tequila Glazed Grilled Chicken Thighs

My next "get rid of it" ingredient is chicken thighs! I forget what I used these in, but I only used half of a package. The rest ended up in my freezer. I think sometimes recipes just fall into my hands at the perfect time, which is exactly what happened with this chicken thigh recipe. I found it in Cooking Light magazine about a week ago, and I tore out the page. That page resurfaced today while I was going through some stacks of paper. Not only did the picture look delicious, but I had every single ingredient already. What a perfect recipe to get rid of things before I move out!

Recipe Notes: I used boneless skinless thighs instead of bone-in. 

Tequila-Glazed Grilled Chicken Thighs

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chili powder

3/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder

6 bone-in chicken thighs, skinned

3/4 cup pineapple juice

1/3 cup tequila (or substitute more pineapple juice if you don't want to use tequila)

1/4 cup honey (I just used about 2 tbsp. I didn't want it too sweet)

2 tsp cornstach

2 tsp water

2 tsp lime zest (I used 2 limes)

3 tbsp fresh lime juice (just juices my 2 limes!)

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

Cooking spray

1. Preheat grill to medium-high heat using both burners. After preheating, turn the left burner off.

2. Combine the first 4 ingredients in a small bowl; rub evenly over chicken

3. Bring the pineapple juice, tequila, and honey to a boil in a small saucepan; cook until reduced to 3/4 cup (about 10 minutes). Combine cornstarch and 2 teaspoons water in a small bowl, and stir well. Add cornstarch mixture to juice mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in lime zest, lime juice, and red pepper. 

4. Place chicken on grill rack coated with cooking spray over right burner (direct heat). Cover and grill for 5 minutes on each side, basting occasionally with juice mixture. Move the chicken to grill rack over left burner (indirect heat). Cover and grill an additional 5 minutes on each side or until done, basting occasionally. Yield: 6 servings, serving size: one thigh

Calrories: 241; Fat: 7.6 g (sat 2.1 g, mono 2.8 g, poly 1.7 g); Protein: 18 g; Carb: 17.2 g; Fiber 0.4 g; Chol 64 mg; Iron 12 mg; Sodium 374 mg; Calc 19 mg

Taste Rating: 8.5
This is a do-over for sure. It's like a sweet spicy flavor explosion in your mouth. All of the cumin and chili powder flavors really come through, but they're still balanced out by the mild sweetness of the glaze. Plus dark meat is so much more flavorful and tender than white meat. I could have probably eaten the entire recipe in one sitting.

Easy Rating: 5
This used quite a few dishes/bowls, so clean up was a pain. It also took a little bit of time to grill, so this isn't a good recipe to make if you have to get somewhere. Nothing was very difficult, it just wasn't one of those quick and convenient recipes.

Overall Rating: 7
It was definitely good enough to make again, even though they weren't super easy. I'm excited for leftovers!