Spice Rubbed Grilled Chicken

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I had planned on making barbecue chicken but we had no ketchup. We didn't have any brown sugar either. Without those ingredients, I couldn't make barbecue sauce. We didn't even have any bottled ready-made bbq sauce either. What's a girl to do? Well, I ended up mixing a whole bunch of spices together - basically everything off the spice rack except cinnamon and curry - and ended up with a deliciously seasoned drumstick.

This is a great one for the grill but you can certainly bake the drumsticks in the oven if you're unable and/or unwilling to grill.

Ingredients:
1½ lbs. chicken drumsticks
2 tablespoons oil (olive, canola, avocado)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon cayenne
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon mustard powder
½ teaspoon cardamom
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon turmeric

Begin by mixing together all of the spices.

Place the drumsticks in a zip-top bag and drizzle in some oil. Mash the bag around to toss in oil. Then, pour in the spices and mash around again to get the drumsticks coated.

Let the drumsticks marinate for 2 hours in the fridge or overnight, if you have the time.

Then, pop these bad boys on the grill. Cook the drumsticks until the internal temperature reads 165F.

I also decided to grill a few veggies.

I burned a few of the squash slices, whoops! I figured I'd show you this to demonstrate that blogging life is never perfect. I make mistakes too.

Make sure to get a good char on the chicken. The skins might burn, but that's all right because they can be peeled off later. The point is to impart some delicious smoky flavor into the meat.

Take a look at the spread we had! We went for wild rice pilaf and a simple salad and sauteed brussels sprouts leaves.

Yeah, that's an iPad in the background. I like to watch shows while I cook and we leave it on while we eat. Judge all you want, it's great background noise.

This chicken is delicious! It's got some really deep flavors; the way the spices develop on the heat of the grill is awesome. Plus, the benefit of drumsticks is that the meat will be super moist no matter what you do to it. Dark meat is amazing in that way.

Here's the recipe page: