I am not sure which might be more difficult to obtain these days, boneless chicken thighs or cauliflower. If you are using food delivery, you might not even know what you will be receiving or what will be missing from your order. You could easily go with all thighs or all cauliflower in this recipe if you only have one of them. With both it’s a perfect way to stretch a few thighs into a larger meal. If you want a vegetarian meal, this would be delicious made with a large head of cauliflower or two smaller ones.

Serve the tacos with soft corn tortillas, flour tortillas, or crisp ones from a box. Or give your family a choice of vehicles for transporting the spicy meat-cauliflower combo plus garnishes. My tastes geared towards a tostada and I decided to fry a flour tortilla (did you know they puff up and get wonderfully crisp?), spread some grated cheddar on it and warm in a low oven until the cheese melts and use that as a base.

Flour Tortilla with Melty Cheese

Chipotle chicken and cauliflower

The inspiration came from Week Light by Donna Hay. I did modify it slightly to make it much less spicy, and because not all the ingredients were available in my fridge or pantry. The original recipe called for an entire can of chipotle chillies in adobo sauce (OW!!!!), I used 2 chilies with a little of the sauce.

Week Light by Donna Hay

It was plenty hot enough for our family.

Chipotle Chicken and Cauliflower

Ingredients:

• 2 chipotle chilies in adobo sauce from a can, finely chop them
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup (or honey)
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or put through the press
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 4 boneless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 head of cauliflower, broken into 1 inch florets
• kosher or sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• Corn or flour tortillas
• Grated cheese of choice
• Garnishes – sliced avocado, salsa, finely shredded cabbage, sliced red onions, chopped cilantro, lime wedges, thinly sliced red pepper, pickled vegetable salad…whatever you have on hand

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Combine the chopped chilies and a couple of tablespoons of adobo sauce in a large bowl. Add the maple syrup, garlic and oil. Mix to combine.
3. Place the chicken in another bowl and top with half the chipotle mixture, mix together.
4. Add the cauliflower to the remaining chipotle mixture, turning to coat as much as possible.
5. Transfer the chicken and cauliflower to separate baking sheets. Roast the chicken for about 20 minutes, the cauliflower needed a little longer. You want a nice char on the cauliflower.

I put the chicken and cauliflower in separate bowls, surrounded by the garnishes, and let everyone make their own.

Donna Hay recommends a lime dressing which consisted of:

• 1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of lime juice
• Salt and pepper

I didn’t have any yogurt on hand so we used a bit of jarred taco sauce.

Chipotle chicken and cauliflower

Did you know that limes will turn the color yellow if left on the tree? That is why the limes in the pictures are yellow and look like lemons.

Do you have plans to celebrate today? Maybe a margarita is on the calendar?