The Middle East has so much to offer when it comes to food and spice. One of the most popular spices in the Middle East is sumac. Red, sour berries are harvested from the sumac bush then dried and ground into a coarse powder. In this recipe, we dust our chicken breasts with this tart and tangy spice. Another gift from Israel is couscous. There are several varieties of couscous, varying in origin and size of the pearl, but here we use the Israeli variety. The couscous gets tossed with an assortment of veg and a tangy, lemony vinaigrette. Take a trip to the Middle East, in under 15 minutes!
Satisfy your sweet tooth with this easy-to-make recipe for Sumac Chicken Lemon Israeli Couscous.
1. Info for Sumac Chicken Lemon Israeli Couscous
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 15 min
- Servings: 4
- Calories: 409.84 kcal
2. Ingredients for Sumac Chicken Lemon Israeli Couscous
- 1 cup Israeli couscous
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon sumac
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 carrot (grated)
- 1 head broccoli (grated, minus the florets)
- 1 diced red onion
- 1 lemon (1 tbsp juice & 2 tbsp of rind and flesh, finely chopped)
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan
- 2 tablespoons parsley (roughly chopped)
- salt
- olive oil
- vinegar (any type will do)
- fresh mint (nice-to-have)
3. Directions:
- Get a large pan going over medium high heat. Fill about half way with hot water and salt heavily. Add the couscous and cook for about 10 minutes.
- Throw another large pan over medium high heat and drizzle with olive oil. Grab your chicken breasts and season with salt and sumac. Add the chicken to the pan, skin side down. Now season the second side with salt and sumac. Toss the whole garlic cloves into the pan as well.
- Grate your carrot. Now grate the broccoli, starting with the bottom, save the florets for another time. Dice up your red onion. Grab a large bowl to make the dressing. Combine about 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of vinegar, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon mustard, a pinch of salt, and whisk to combine. Add your veg to the bowl and toss.
- Once the chicken has been on the skin side for about 5 minutes, it’s time to flip it.
- Strain the couscous and add about half the couscous to the salad (save the rest for another day). Grate your parm over the top. Grab your lemon and slice off a couple of pieces of rind, leaving a bit of the flesh on each piece. Then, finely chop the pieces and add to the salad. Chop up the parsley and add to the salad.
- Add a pile of couscous salad to the center of the plate. Top with a chicken breast. Garnish with a bit of torn parsley and a pinch of sumac.
- Hot Tip: Dressing ratio rule – When dressing salads with leaves use a 3-to-1 ratio of oil to lemon, if no leaves are involved use a 2-to-1 ratio.
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