Being a lover of all foods Middle Eastern (okay, maybe just all foods), the Accidental Locavore made this chicken recipe for dinner recently. Give it some time to marinate but don’t worry, the marinade comes together really quickly, so you can do it in the morning before you take off. The ingredients for the sauce are going in a food processor, so you can just coarsely chop them. Serves 4:
For the chicken:
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- Salt and pepper
- 6 skinless boneless chicken thighs
For the sauce:
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 chiles, jalapeno or Serrano (more or less to taste), seeded and chopped
- 1/3 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
- Leaves from 8 sprigs of mint
- ½ cup pitted green olives, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt
- Lemon juice to taste
- Lemon wedges to serve
Mix the olive oil, cinnamon, cayenne, cumin, garlic and salt and pepper in a small bowl to make a marinade. Make little slits all over the underside of the pieces of chicken with the point of a knife. Put the chicken in a Ziploc bag and pour the marinade over, turning to coat. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight. Bring the chicken to room temperature before cooking.
Make the sauce just before you cook the chicken. Put the garlic, chiles, cilantro, mint and olives and vinegar in the workbowl of a food processor and pulse until well combined. Gradually add the olive oil and process until you have a rough paste (it should be chunky). Add lemon juice and salt to taste and set aside in a small bowl.
Heat a grill or grill pan on medium heat. Remove the chicken from the marinade, and shake off the excess. Cook the chicken for about two minutes on each side, then reduce the heat to low and cook for another four minutes per side. The chicken should be cooked through and singed, but not burnt.
Serve the chicken with the sauce and lemon wedges and enjoy!
My verdict: Great! I did the chicken thighs on the grill and they were delicious! If you can’t grill, a grill pan, or even a hot (400°) oven with a sheet pan would work fine. The sauce is really good with them and you can adjust the spice and salt to suit your personal taste (so mine was nice and spicy). The sauce would go well with a firm fish or even some lamb chops. I served the chicken with couscous and some green beans, but eggplant would be a good side dish too. If you have any Greek yogurt or labneh, you could add that too.
