ginger mango chicken en papillote

April 22, 2013

I forgot how much I loved cooking in parchment or ‘en papillote’ as the French would say. At least, I think it’s the French. Nothing like being able to rely on 6 years of French classes when I really need it. Yikes.

When my husband and I were first married, I used to cook in this style quite a bit. It was a great way to cook for two (and sometimes for 1 when my husband was traveling for work) and it made it super simple to customize flavors for each person. Which pretty much translated to: onions for me, no onions for him.

Cooking en papillote is such a creative way to cook; piling in different ingredients, layering textures and flavors into small little packages.

Plus, the individual little presents full of tasty and surprising treats is so much fun. It’s like your birthday, everyday.

Trust me, it beats getting socks for your birthday. Unless, you really needed socks, in which case that would be a thoughtful gift.

I guess.

This recipe uses chicken as the blank canvas on which to impart some seriously bold flavors, all the while cooking the chicken gently as to not dry the heck out of it.

P.S. I’m the queen of drying out boneless skinless chicken breasts. I don’t know what it is, but give me a piece of boneless chicken breasts and I freeze up. And then it dries up.

But not when I cook it like this. Not a dry piece in the house, folks.

Can I also say, how easy this is to do? It’s similar to the ease of cooking in the crock pot. A teeny tiny bit of prep, put everything into it’s little pouch, and about 20 minutes later, dinner is ready.

And the flavors of this particular combo are so amazing. Sweet mango and spicy jalapeno dance around each other and are then set off by a bit of fresh ginger and cilantro. A squeeze of lime adds some acid and rounds everything out into a tropical, perfect-for-Spring-time meal.

Since rediscovering my love for cooking in parchment, I totally feel another kick coming on. A parchment kick, that is.

Next time: Shrimp!

Until then, Happy Monday!!

Ginger Mango Chicken en Papillote
serves 4\\\\\\\\\\\\serving size – 1 packet
6 points+ per serving
adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients
1 lb of boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 small breast halves)
1 mango, peeled, pitted and sliced
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into match sticks
1/3 cup of cilantro leaves
1 jalapeno pepper, thinly sliced
4 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
1 lime cut into 8 wedges

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut four pieces of parchment paper, about 18 inches long.

Cut chicken breasts in half, horizontally. I sometimes call this ‘fileting’ your chicken.

Lay 1/4 of the mango slices in the center of each piece of parchment. Top with 1 piece of chicken, 1/4 of the ginger and jalapeno. Season each serving with salt and pepper and drizzle each piece of chicken with 1 teaspoon of olive oil.

To fold the packets, pull up the sides of the piece of parchment paper and bring them together over the chicken. Fold the edges together and down, creating several small folds. You’re essentially rolling the parchment down over the chicken. Fold the ends under or twist them together tightly (as shown above).

Place the folded packets on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.

When serving, carefully open packets (there will be steam, so use caution) and squeeze lime wedges over chicken.

Enjoy!

posted in dinner, lunch, spring, summer

13 comments »

13 comments on “ginger mango chicken en papillote”

Cozinhar sem Lactose — April 22, 2013 @ 6:38 pm Reply

Lovely! My husband loves everything that comes en papillote, so I’ll give this recipe a try as soon as I can!
- Emily Caruso — April 30, 2013 @ 8:50 pm
  
  I hope you love it!! Thanks so much for stopping by!
Alaina @ Fabtastic Eats — April 23, 2013 @ 2:42 am Reply

Chicken and mango is one of my favorite combinations..this sounds so wonderful! Can’t wait to try this out!
- Emily Caruso — April 30, 2013 @ 8:50 pm
  
  Thanks, Alaina! I hope you love it!
Erin Dahl — April 26, 2013 @ 1:29 am Reply

I made this tonight and it was SO good! The perfect spring/summer dinner. Thanks for the recipe!
- Emily Caruso — April 30, 2013 @ 8:50 pm
  
  Awesome, Erin! I’m so glad it worked out for you! Thanks for stopping back 🙂
Jay — May 11, 2013 @ 2:25 am Reply

Hi Emily,

Just wanted to thank you for this recipe! I made the dish tonight and it was delicious! Simple, healthy and very flavorful. I’ll be making it again and again. 🙂
- Emily Caruso — May 14, 2013 @ 9:12 pm
  
  I’m so glad to hear that, Jay! I really appreciate you coming back to tell me about it! Thank you so much 🙂
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Ariel Ambar — July 25, 2016 @ 9:31 am Reply

This sounds amazing! How long does this recipe normally take to make?

Thanks! 🙂
- Emily — July 28, 2016 @ 10:09 pm
  
  Hi Ariel! The prep takes a few minutes, but baking time is 20 minutes. Enjoy!!
Lauren — April 25, 2018 @ 12:01 am Reply

When do you add the cilantro? Sorry it I’m missing it in the inscructions. Looks yummy, can’t wait to try it out!
- Emily — April 27, 2018 @ 1:18 pm
  
  You can sprinkle cilantro on after they come out of the oven (it’s optional!) Thanks for stopping by!