A trip to Israel late last year was long anticipated (as in, I’ve been waiting nearly 25 years to visit!) for many reasons, most notably because I’ve been a student of the bible for most of my life and I was excited to experience the landscape, texture and general sense of place. The trip was soooo great! What I didn’t expect however, (and this seems slightly embarrassing) is that I would fall so in love with the food of that land! Simple and fresh but abounding in flavor! I’ve combined some of my treasured flavor memories together in this easy to prepare bowl, perfect for any weeknight meal.
Imperative to this bowl are my two new favorite, must always be in my spice cabinet from now on herbs, Za’atar and Sumac. Za’atar is slightly confusing because the name can be referring to a particular herb (hyssop, an herb that plays a prominent role in the bible) or more often a spice blend including, but not limited to, hyssop, sumac, sesame seeds and salt. The above is clearly a blend and imparts an earthy nutty flavor. Sumac is derived from grinding the dried berries of the Sumac bush native to the Middle East. It has a bright lemony flavor and it’s lovely redness makes it perfect for sprinkling on top of foods that need just a little pop of color!
The first step in making this bowl is creating the marinade for the chicken. For this you will need some Za’atar and Sumac along with some basics like olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, salt and pepper.
Before marinading the chicken breasts, place them between a couple sheets of plastic wrap and pound them (I usually use a rolling pin for this job) to about a 1/2 inch thickness. The pounding of the chicken breasts helps to both tenderize the meat and also aid in evenly cooking the breasts. The key here is to make sure the plastic wrap generously covers the chicken breasts, otherwise the pounding is likely to spray chicken juice around your kitchen (Ewwwwwwww!)…..a fact I may or may not know from experience! Place chicken breasts and marinade in a ziploc bag or glass container and allow to marinade at least 30 minutes, 2 hours is better and they could even marinade all day if you’d like an early morning before you go to work project!
Once you have your chicken marinaded, you are less than 30 minutes away from serving up some lovely bowls! While the quinoa and chicken are cooking (I’ve given you instructions for super easy, no fail 21 minute chicken stove top cooking!) I like to get all my other veggies cut up and ready for bowl making. In the recipe I called for grape tomatoes, because they are easier and in my opinion more attractive when cut up, but any ripe tomato will work. If I have red pepper (or yellow or orange) on hand I will throw those in as well (roasted or sauteed? Yum!) Isn’t this the beauty of bowl making? There aren’t a lot of rules and it’s fun to experiment with different ingredients and flavor combinations! Oh! and don’t forget the hummus!
Mediterranean Chicken Bowl
Ingredients
Marinade
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (juice of 2-3 lemons)
- 2 tablespoons za'atar
- 1 tablespoon sumac
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Bowl
- 2 pounds chicken breasts, about 2 full breasts, pounded to ½” thickness
- 1 cup quinoa, dry
- 1 cup hummus
- 1 1/2 cups cucumbers, cut in chunks
- 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped optional
- 1/2 cup Nicoise olives
- 1 bunch cilantro, rough chopped
- 1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled
- extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- 1 lemon, juiced
Instructions
Marinade
- In a small bowl or pyrex measuring cup whisk together all marinade ingredients.
- Prepare chicken by placing between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and pounding with a meat mallet or rolling pin to an even thickness of about ½”. (Ensure that your meat is completely covered to avoid spewing chicken juices throughout your kitchen when you are pounding!)
- Place pounded chicken breasts and marinade together into a quart or gallon size ziplock bag. Seal and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Bowls
- In a small saucepan prepare quinoa according to package directions.
- Heat a large skillet with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat.
- When the skillet is heated, carefully lay the chicken breasts and then pour the marinade into the skillet. Allow the chicken to cook for 1 minute.
- Flip the chicken breasts over, turn down the heat to low, cover the skillet and allow to cook for 10 minutes. No peeking! The lid needs to stay tight on the skillet.
- After 10 minutes, turn the burner off, leave the skillet in place (if you have an electric stove remove the chicken to another burner)and allow the chicken to cook for another 10 minutes. Again, no sneak peeks, leave that lid firmly in place.
- Allow chicken breasts to rest for a couple minutes and then slice crosswise.
- Start layering your bowl! Beginning with the quinoa, divide equally among the bowls, there should be enough for about ¾ cup per bowl. Then portion the chicken, hummus, cucumbers, tomatoes, red peppers, olives and cilantro amongst the bowls according to people’s tastes and hunger levels. Sprinkle with crumbled feta cheese. Just before serving drizzle with olive oil and some freshly squeezed lemon juice. Salt and pepper to taste.