I was looking for a new way to grill chicken and I came across a recipe for Jamaican Jerk Chicken and I was intrigued by the ingredients and decided to try it out.  My first bite of the chicken was packed with flavor and had an lasting heat sensation.  Time is the most important aspect of the recipe, you need to let the chicken marinade for at least 24 hours.  Marinating allows the flavor to seep into the chicken and also tenderizes the chicken so that it is insanely juicy.  After I grilled this chicken, I wanted to add a sweet and tangy component to it, so I decided to make a salad with mango and goat cheese.  This flavor combination is great and it becomes a very hearty salad.

Ingredients

Jamaican Jerk Marinade:

• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (I use vidalia for sweetness)
• 3 medium scallions, chopped
• 2 Scotch bonnet chiles, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon five-spice powder (I had a hard time finding this so I used a combination of star anise, cinnamon, fennel, cloves and cumin)
• 1 tablespoon allspice berries, coarsely ground
• 1 tablespoon coarsely ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 lime squeezed and zested
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Two 3 1/2- to 4-pound chickens, quartered

Salad Ingredients:

• 1 ripe mango, diced
• 1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled
• 4 stocks asparagus, shaved using vegetable peeler
• 3 cups baby spinach
• 1/4 cup dressing (olive oil, sherry vinegar, salt and pepper)

Recipe:

To make the marinade combine all the marinade ingredients except the soy sauce and the vegetable oil in a food processor.  Once all the ingredients have blended, slowly drizzle in the soy sauce and vegetable oil, rotating back and forth between the two ingredients.  Once all of the ingredients have blended, place all the chicken in a Ziploc bag and pour the marinade over the chicken and place in the refrigerator over night.  Once the chicken has marinated, pull the chicken out of the refrigerator and bring to room temperature.  Preheat the grill to medium high heat. Place the chicken on the grill, skin side down.  Flip the chicken about every 7 minutes and be careful of flare ups.  Once the chicken is cooked through, take off the grill and let rest for at least 15 minutes.  Pull the chicken from the bone in large chunks.  As the chicken is resting, put all the ingredients of the salad in a bowl and toss with the dressing.  After the salad is dressed, toss in the chicken and serve immediately.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did!