Jamaican Jerk Chicken & Garden Eggs (Eggplant)

HomeClinics & ProgramsELLICSR KitchenJamaican Jerk Chicken & Garden Eggs (Eggplant)

Skill Level	Intermediate

Preparation Time	10 minutes	Total Time	70 minutes
Servings	4	Cost Per Serving	$3.65

1	Whole Chicken, halved or quartered (get your butcher to do this)
4-6	Small Eggplant, halved and scored on the cut side
1/2	Scotch Bonnet Pepper, seeded and finely chopped (optional)
1 tbsp	Fresh Thyme
1 tbsp	Fresh Ginger, finely chopped
1/2 tsp each	Nutmeg and Cinnamon
2 cloves	Garlic (or 1/2 cup Garlic Scapes)
4	Spring/Green Onions
1 tbsp	Ground Pimento (Jamaican Allspice)
2	Limes, juiced
1 tsp	White Vinegar
2 tbsp	Olive Oil or Grape Seed Oil
To Taste	Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Add all your ingredients, except for the chicken and eggplant, to a blender, and puree until smooth.
Pour marinade over your chicken and eggplant.
Store chicken and eggplant separately in glass containers. Allow chicken to marinate for at least 3 hours, best overnight. Allow eggplant to marinate for about 1 to 2 hours.
For bbq, preheat grill to medium high. Cook chicken, turning frequently. Grill for about 15 to 20 minutes per side (until you reach an internal temperature of 165°F for boneless or 180°F for bone-in chicken).
For oven cooking, preheat the oven to 375°F, and roast chicken in a baking pan for about 1 hour, until cooked through.
Grill or bake eggplant in the same manner, for about 20 minutes total.

PDF link to nutrition facts table for jerk chicken and jerk eggplant

When cooked at high temperatures on the grill or under the broiler, meat, poultry and fish can produce chemicals called heterocyclic aromatic amines (HCAs or HAAs). Another group of chemicals, called Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), are formed when fat drips onto coals or stones. The fat increases the flames and creates smoke, which deposits the PAHs onto your food. HCAs and PAHs can bind to our DNA and cause damage that may lead to cancer.
To lower the HCAs in your meat and poultry, try marinating them for at least 30 minutes before grilling. Marinating meat and poultry has been shown to lower the amount of HCAs that are formed by up to 90%.
Another healthy way to reduce HCAs and PAHs is to choose vegetables, beans and legumes more often instead of foods that come from animals. Vegetables can be safely grilled without producing HCAs. As an added bonus, vegetables provide fibre and plant chemicals that help fight cancer.