CHICKEN WITH SPRING ONIONS, CHILLI AND GREEK YOGURT

INTRODUCTION

The sauce borrows from the idea of tsatsiki and all those Middle-Eastern yogurt salads – it is a cool, pungent accompaniment to the tender, but not strongly flavoured, chicken.

• 6 skinless chicken breasts
• juice of 2 lemons
• 75 millilitres olive oil
• 500 grams greek yoghurt
• 6 thin spring onions (or 4 fat ones)
• 1 fresh green chilli
• 2 cloves garlic
• ½ cucumber (peeled and cut into cubes)
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
• 3 tablespoons chopped mint

METHOD

1. Open out each chicken breast, and cut into about 3 lengthways so that you have thinner, smaller pieces. Put them into a freezer bag, or dish, with the lemon juice and 3 tablespoons of oil, and season with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, get on with the sauce.
2. Tip the yogurt into a large mixing bowl and, letting everything drop on top of it, slice the spring onions finely and deseed and chop the chilli finely, too.
3. Peel and mince the garlic into the yogurt and also add the peeled cubed cucumber and most of the freshly chopped coriander and mint, reserving a little to sprinkle on top later.
4. Mix all these ingredients together, and taste for seasoning; I like to add a fair bit of salt. Pour the 2 remaining tablespoons of olive oil into a large pan to heat up.
5. Take the chicken out of the marinade and fry for 3-5 minutes a side or until golden outside in parts, and wholly cooked through. At the last minute, tip in about half of the lemony marinade to add sharpness and gloss.
6. Remove the chicken pieces to a serving dish, and scrape the yogurt mixture into bowl, with a spoon to dollop, and sprinkle with the remaining chopped herbs.

Recipe from Nigella