Healthy dinner idea (#1)

Hi, welcome to my first post in my 'healthy food ideas' series!

 

Grilled chicken with couscous tabbouleh might seem a bit complicated but take it from me, it's not. I cooked this for my family and best friend the other night and it went down amazingly. It's so summery and well seasoned, it makes you feel like you're sat in the Mediterranean. If you wanna know how to cook this awesome summer meal, read on...

 

 

Grilled Chicken Skewers with Couscous Tabbouleh

You will need (for 4 people)

 

Couscous - 380g

A knob of butter

2 cloves of garlic

Chicken fillets - 500g

Plain yogurt - 125g

Cumin (a herb) - 1 & 1/4 tbsp

2 lemons

Salt and ground pepper - (to season)

1 & 1/2 tomatoes

1/4 cucumber

1/2 an onion (preferably red but I used white)

Approx 4 leaves of parsley

Approx 4 leaves of mint

Extra virgin olive oil - 3 tbsp

1 lemon (for serving)
Pitta bread (for serving)

 

Basically, you're going to be preparing 4 separate parts for this dish: the couscous, the filling for the couscous (to make a tabbouleh), the chicken for skewers and the marinade for the chicken.
Right here we go:

1) Start by preparing the marinade for the chicken.

-Crush and chop the garlic cloves into small chunks. They will not actually go in the dinner but are just used to flavour so the exact size isn't too important.
-Squeeze the juice out of 1 lemon and put it into a little bowl.
-In a big bowl, combine the yogurt, cumin, garlic cloves and lemon juice from 1 lemon. Season this with salt and pepper to your liking.

*This mixture may look a bit odd, mostly due to the yogurt, but don't worry it's only the flavour that transfers to the dish*

2) Chop the chicken fillets into fairly even sizes suitable for kebabs.

Be careful to keep raw meet separate from all other ingredients and wash your hands after handling it.
- Once it's all chopped up, but the chicken chunks into the marinade you prepared a minute ago and leave whilst you prepare the rest.

3) Put your couscous onto cook according to the package directions.

Generally you boil water, add a bit of butter for a nicer flavour and texture. Then add the couscous and leave for 5-10 minutes. Your packet should tell you exact measurements of water and timings.

4) Once the couscous is on, start preparing ingredients for the tabbouleh.

- Dice and seed the tomatoes into small chunks
- Finely cut, dice and seed the cucumber into small chunks
- Finely chop the onion
- Finely chop up the parsley and mint leaves (the amount depends on how strong you want the flavours to come through.)
- Juice the other lemon and put the juice in a bowl.
- Finally, in a large bowl combine the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, parsley, mint, lemon juice, olive oil and cooked couscous. Stir thoroughly and season with salt/pepper or herbs of your choice. Leave it whilst you cook the chicken.

5) To cook the chicken:

- Take the chunks out of the marinade and put them evenly onto skewers to make kebabs.
- Either cook them in the oven OR oil a pan and grill them by turning them so they cook throughout.

Once all the kebabs are brown and thoroughly cooked, serve out the couscous tabbouleh into big bowls and place the kebabs over the top. Serve with a wedge of lemon and pitta bread to complete the meal.

I hope you enjoy and try out this healthy summer meal, see you next time!

Laura Stone x