Grilled Apple Cider Chicken and Cinnamon Baked Apples with Sautéed Cider Cabbage

It's time again for the monthly Taste & Create hosted by Nicole from The Love of Food. In this clever event, food bloggers sign up and are randomly assigned a partner, from whose blog they select one dish, which is then cooked, photographed, and blogged.

My partner this month is Danielle from Make No Little Meals. Amid the gourmet food and gorgeous photos, the dish that really caught my eye was one that recalled Danielle's Polish family traditions. I was well into my twenties before I found out what kielbasa was, and I don't think I've ever eaten pierogi, so I was curioius to try a meal with a Polish twist. The Kid loves both apples and chicken, plus his favorite color, at least this week, is purple, so I had a good shot at introducing a new crucifer to him.

Here are the recipe's ingredients as written:

For the Chicken:

• Boneless, skinless chicken breasts—about a pound
• Apple cider—1/2 cup
• Apple cider vinegar—1 cup
• Honey—3 Tbspn
• Brown sugar—3 Tbspn
• Celery Salt—3 tspn
• Cinnamon--pinch

For the Baked Apples:

• 4 medium sized apples—sliced
• Splash of nice white wine
  
• Brown sugar—3 Tbspn
• Butter—to grease the fry pan
• Cinnamon—2 Tbspn

For the Cabbage:

• Red Cabbage—1 head, shredded
• Apple cider—1/2 cup
• Apple cider vinegar—1/2 cup
• White wine
  
• Celery Salt—4 tspn
• Brown sugar—3 Tbspn
• Nutmeg—1 tspn
• Butter—3 pads

Marinate the chicken a minimum of 30 minutes in the ingredients listed, then grill. (I substituted dairy free margarine for the butter and used kosher salt instead of celery salt, since that's just not something I keep around.)

While heating margarine in a skillet, toss the apple with the brown sugar and cinnamon, then sauté until tender. Deglaze with the white wine. In another skillet, again heat margarine, then wilt cabbage sprinkled with salt. Add liquids and simmer without lid. Stir in brown sugar and nutmeg once reduced.

Serve the chicken on a generous bed of cabbage and top with apples.

I announced that we were having "purple chicken" for dinner, and The Kid ran eagerly to the table. (Madison Avenue advertising execs have nothing on the mother of a pre-schooler trying to push a vegetable.) My husband was less enthused at the prospect of cabbage. My son's first response to the apple was "It tastes like applesauce!" but he only ate one bite, probably due to the large quantity of cinnamon. The chicken he finished enthusiastically, and he ate quite a few bites of cabbage without complaint or hesitation, which for a new vegetable is a minor miracle. ("It's purple! What is it?") All of us liked the marinated chicken. I discovered that cabbage is much better without caraway. Even my husband conceded it wasn't too bad. With some tweaking to adjust for our tastes, we may be eating purple chicken again.