Adam Pickard's chimichurri chicken carnitas
Adam marinates chicken breasts in a spicy and zingy dressing before cooking and serves in tortillas with pickled onions and smashed avocado; a speedy midweek meal for four.
Serves 4
Prepare 15 min
Cook 15 min
Ingredients
4 chicken breasts
For the chimichurri dressing:4 garlic cloves, peeled
1 red chilli, finely diced
30g flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
10g oregano, finely chopped
50ml olive oil
1 lime, zest and juice
For the quick pickled onions:100ml red wine vinegar
50g caster sugar
1 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 lime, zest only
For the smashed avocado: 2 avocados
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 lime, juice only
To serve: 8 corn tortillas
2 little gem lettuce, shredded
Method
1. Butterfly the chicken breasts. To do this, place the chicken breast on a board and lay one hand flat on top, then use a sharp knife to carefully cut horizontally through the middle, almost all the way though. Open out and lay flat.
2. For the Chimichurri dressing, put the garlic cloves and a pinch of salt in a pestle and mortar and crush until it forms a paste. Add the chilli, parsley, oregano, olive oil and the zest and juice from a lime. Season with pepper and mix together. Pour half the dressing into a bowl, add the chicken and leave to marinate.
3. For the quick pickled onions, mix the red wine vinegar, sugar and 30ml water in a pan and bring to the boil. Add the onions and remove from the heat. Add the lime zest, cover and leave to steep.
4. Cook the chicken breasts on a griddle pan over a high heat (or on a barbecue) for 3-4 mins on each side. After this, continue to flip and cook evenly on each side until cooked through, this shouldn’t take long as the chicken is butterflied.
5. For the smashed avocado, mash the avocado into a bowl, season with salt and pepper, the chilli flakes and the juice of the remaining lime.
6. Gently heat the tortilla wraps on the griddle pan (or barbecue), then layer the smashed avocado, little gem and slices of the chimichurri chicken on top. Drizzle over some of the chimichurri dressing, then add the drained quick pickled onions.
Poppy O'Tooles garam masala chicken breast with coconut and tomato lentils
Poppy bakes her spice-covered chicken breasts in the oven and serves them with roasted cauliflower and creamy tomato and coconut lentils.
Serves 4
Takes 40 mins
Ingredients
For the lentils: 3 tsp garam masala
3 curry leaves
2 tsp black mustard seeds
pinch of chilli flakes
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2-3cm knob of ginger, minced
200g red lentils
2 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 tin of light coconut milk
½ bunch coriander, finely chopped
1 tsp of desiccated coconut
1 lime, juiced
For the chicken: 2 tsp garam masala
2 chicken breasts, skin-on
1 tsp olive oil
For the cauliflower: 1 cauliflower
1½ tsp garam masala
1 tbsp olive oil
Method
1. In a frying pan, over a low-medium heat, lightly toast the garam masala, the curry leaves, mustard seeds, chilli flakes and cumin seeds. When they start to pop and release their aroma, add the olive oil, garlic and ginger and mix well to combine.
2. Add the red lentils and chopped tomatoes, a good pinch of salt and mix well. Fry for 2-3 mins.
3. Add the coconut milk, mix well, and leave on a low-medium heat for about 20 mins. Keep adding ladles of water to keep things moving (about 300ml water during cooking process).
4. For the chicken, preheat the oven to gas 6, 200°C, fan 180°C fan. Mix the garam masala with a generous pinch of salt. Drizzle olive oil over the chicken breasts and massage the garam masala mix onto them.
5. Cut the cauliflower florets (stalk and leaves) into bite-size pieces, sprinkle over the garam masala, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with oil. Spread the cauliflower out on a baking tray, add the chicken breasts, skin-side up, and cook in the oven for 30 mins until the chicken and cauliflower are cooked through.
6. When you are ready to serve, add the coriander and lime juice to the lentils and mix well. Sprinkle over the desiccated coconut. Slice the chicken and lay on top of the lentils, alongside the cauliflower.
This video was shot in April 2021 following COVID-19-compliant guidelines.