This afternoon I faced the classic “rainy day dilemma” as I pulled up to the exit of my parking garage at work. Do I turn right and go home, put on my coziest sweats and hunker down for the night? Or do I turn left and head to the gym?

I chose left! It was the right thing to do and I felt great afterwards I hit the treadmill for 4 miles at speeds ranging from 6.1 to 6.3 and sprints at speeds ranging from 7.0 to 7.5. My cool down was a 5 minute walk at 4.0 and a 5% incline. Sometimes when the energy or will to work out is lacking – you literally just have to physically get yourself there. I’m glad I did!

I had been thinking about tonight’s dinner during my workout and knew it was going to be a chicken dish, but didn’t know exactly what kind. Inspired by Mrs. Dash Caribbean Citrus Seasoning Blend, some pineapple, an orange and a lemon that I had in my fruit bowl – tonight I made Citrus Chicken with Roasted Almonds!

Here is said inspiration

First I liberally seasoned 2 chicken breasts with the Caribbean Citrus seasoning blend and sautéed them for ~4-5 minutes a side. At the same time, I cooked up some egg noodles.

Then I got to making the Citrus Dressing that totally stole the show!

In the mix:

• Mrs. Dash Caribbean Citrus seasoning blend
• Crushed red pepper (not too much – you know my spice limitations!)
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ~1/2 cup pineapple
• 1 orange
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• Salt & pepper (un-pictured)

I started the citrus dressing by cutting the peel from the orange and slicing out the segments with a small, sharp knife.

I squeezed the remaining juice from the orange over my segments…

Then added the rest of my ingredients and mixed. EASY!

Next, I sprayed a cookie sheet with non-stick spray, sprinkled on some almonds and sprayed the top with more non-stick spray. I put them under the broiler for ~1.5 minutes. Watch closely – they go from brown to burnt in mere seconds!

After draining the pasta, I added the citrus dressing, mixed and scooped into a bowl. Top with chicken, roasted almonds – and you’ve got Citrus Chicken with Roasted Almonds!

This was…so.amazing. So amazing! It reminded me of of my Citrus CousCous Salad ! The dressing was slightly sweet from the orange, but not too sweet.

My almonds were this close to being burnt, but they were the perfect topper for both their flavor and crrrrrrunch.

I do hope you give this a try sometime. The sweet pineapple and orange, mixed with the spiced Caribbean Citrus blend and crunchy almonds was AMAZING.  I cleaned my plate!

Off to clean the kitchen, put away laundry (hey, I did fold it!!) and watch

30 ROCK!

Season premiere is tonight and I, for one, could not be more excited – Tina Fey is my hero!!

Have a great night everyone!

~~~~~

Are you a member of the “clean plate” club?

One of my biggest downfalls is that no matter how much is on my plate, I tend to eat it all. It’s just the way I grew up! Now I just use smaller plates!

Related posts:

1. A Dash of the Caribbean
2. Running with Forest Ninjas
3. These Are My Confessions…