Garlic Chicken

Serves: 2 | Prep time: 5-10 minutes | Cooking time: 25-30 minutes

Main Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breast fillets

Herbs, spices & condiments: 

• Pinch of pepper
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper (add more if you want a kick)
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

• 4 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 5 garlic cloves

These are generally the amounts I use for two chicken breast fillets. Increase the amounts by a bit for each additional chicken breast you use – it doesn’t have to be an exact science.

Method:

1. Chop the chicken breast fillets into small/mini fillets/strips (as big or little as you like) and pop them in an oven dish.
2. Add all the spices, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil and mix it all so that all chicken pieces are coated.
3. Put the dish with the marinated chicken in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees for 25 minutes (or until cooked).

Feel free to make tweaks that suit you as needed. I’d love to hear of any changes you make (they might make it better!) so do get in touch.

Tip: this recipe goes really well with the Simple Roast Vegetables dish.

This recipe’s story

This chicken recipe was inspired by a meal my dear mum made for us a few years ago when we were visiting my family in Cyprus. It was bursting with flavour, tender and juicy. It was delicious.

She shared the recipe with me. Well, she shared that day’s recipe. My mum is great at improvising and going with the flow each time she cooks, so each time she cooks something, it might be slightly different from the time before, but always just as delicious.

I tweaked and adjusted the recipe to suit my cupboards, convenience and confidence. For example, my mum used lemon slices (from her garden!) in hers that day, whereas lemons, delicious as they are, are not something I am prepared to buy on a regular basis. I just never remember to buy one when it’s needed and buying a bag of them means they go off before I can use them. So I go with a bottle of lemon juice in the fridge: always there when I need it and does the trick well enough.

I love this recipe for its low maintenance nature. I make it when we are having friends or family over. I can prepare it the night before and then bung it in the oven when guests are over, leaving me free to hang out with them and takes the pressure off cooking there and then!