Quick Turkish-Marinated Griddled Chicken Breasts

For when you can't be bothered with lighting the barbecue, or marinating things for several hours then threading them on skewers, but still want the flavour of traditional chicken shish kebabs...

This is a great 'cheat', and it takes minutes to make the marinade and prepare the chicken - then you can leave it to sit while you prepare your salad and any sides you fancy with it. 

You could even salt a handful of grated cucumber while your chicken is marinating it, then squeeze and mix with Greek yoghurt for a dip just before you cook the chicken (or make full on cacik / tzatziki), along with my speedy shredded cabbage, carrot and cumin salad (like a cross betweeen a salad and a slaw, with Turkish flavours which takes about 5 minutes to prepare and you can have a generous helping about 4 times bigger than what you can see on the plate above for only 71 calories! Click here for the recipe) and a mixed side salad. Also shown with my Turkish red cabbage salad and easy Turkish rice.

Serves two, 153 calories per serving.

If you enjoy this, then next time why not push the boat out and go for the full on Turkish feast!

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts (skinless and boneless, 120g each) [264]

For the marinade

• 1/2 tbsp red pepper paste (e.g. Melis brand, available from ASDA in the world food section - or substitute double concentrate tomato puree for a similar taste) [7]
• 1 garlic clove, crushed [6]
• 2 tsp lemon juice (preferably fresh) [3]
• 1/2 tsp olive oil (or oil to suit your diet) [23]
• Pinch each of dried thyme and cayenne pepper (or hot chilli powder - you can use fresh thyme, if you prefer, about a 1 tsp) [2]
• Freshly ground black pepper, and a scant 1/4 tsp fine sea salt, or to taste [1]

Method

Same size/weight, butterflied, on the left.

Remove all visible fat from the chicken breasts and then butterfly them (see here for how to butterfly a chicken breast, if you're not sure - it's very quick and easy once you know what you're doing, I promise - and it makes them really quick to cook, and avoids uneven cooking).

Mix together all of the marinade ingredients thoroughly, and cover the chicken breasts with it and set aside (in a non-metallic bowl or dish) for half an hour or so (or overnight), while you prepare the rest of your dinner.

Heat up the BBQ, grill or griddle (I griddled these as you can probably tell - if your griddle has a tendency to stick, put a few drops of oil on some kitchen towel and wipe it over first).

Cook for a few minutes on each side until thoroughly cooked through - when I make this in a griddle pan, I cook for a couple of minutes on one side, then when I turn them over, I then throw a tbsp or two of water into the corner and immediately cover with a lid, so they partially steam cook and stay moist for the last couple of minutes of cooking.

Serve with your side dishes of choice and enjoy!