Island Flare

So you always see those pictures of food sitting on a plate with a glass of wine and a loaf of bread and you think, I could never get my plate to look so good, well yes you can. All you need is a wonderful meal option! This is a real picture of our Calypso Chicken with Black Bean Mango Salsa cooked in my own kitchen with out a food stylist in sight. This beautiful meal took me less than 20 minutes and that was only because I had to bring water to a boil for the corn. I sautéed our Calypso chicken from the April Dinner A'Fare menu to a light golden brown as you can see in the picture, the spice coverage also helped yield that great color.

It then took me only a moment to sauté the brussels sprouts with a little chicken stock. I like to slice my brussels sprouts thin like slaw so that they cook quickly and don't begin to develop that metallic flavor. They are so good this way and much easier to eat. I still continued to boil my corn while I finished up my chicken by letting it rest off of the heat for a few minutes, this allows the juices to filter back through the chicken and not run out when you slice it.

As I placed my food in order around the plate, I placed the vegetables down first. I sliced the chicken and I then use the vegetables to lean the chicken up against, this gives height to the plate and adds to the beauty. (A little secret...the protein also helps keep the veggie warm be transferring its heat.) I topped it with the salsa and added a little micro-green sprouts I had and TaDa! My husband comes to sit at the table and looks at his dinner and once again he proclaims, "it's better than eating out".