A joyfully colourful and gently spiced warm chicken and bulgur salad.
If tahini (sesame paste) doesn’t work for you, crush a clove of garlic and mix it with a few tablespoons of plain yoghurt, plus a pinch of salt and a dash of olive oil, or swirl harissa into yoghurt instead. (Yoghurt can be dairy, soy, coconut or nut-based, depending on your preferences or needs.)
If you are wheat or gluten free, you can swap the bulgur wheat for quinoa (allow 60g-75g dry quinoa per person and cook according to the packet instructions).
If you can’t eat chickpeas, you can swap them for cannellini beans (don’t remove the skins and add for the last 5 minutes of cooking); if you can’t eat legumes you can leave the chickpeas out and bulk up the salad with some chopped cucumber and slices of roast pepper in olive oil, from a jar.
This recipe was first published in LEON Big Salads, which I wrote with the team at LEON restaurants and was published by Octopus. Photo by Steven Joyce.
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Ingredients
bone in chicken thighs 8
extra-virgin olive oil 5 tbsp
ras el hanout 3 tsp
chickpeas 400 g (drained)
shallot 4 (quartered)
ground cumin ½ tsp
chilli flakes pinch
bulgur wheat 200 g (boiled)
frozen spinach 300 g
tahini 2 tbsp
garlic cloves 1 (crushed)
lemon ½ (juice)
flat leaf parsley 5 tbsp (chopped)
fresh dill 4 tbsp (chopped)
fresh mint 3 tbsp (chopped)
spring onions 2 (chopped)
Method
Roast the chicken
Heat the oven to 200ºC fan/425°F/gas mark 7.
Put the chicken thighs in a large roasting tin with 3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil, the ras el hanout, a generous pinch of salt and lots of black pepper.
Rub the oil and seasoning all over the chicken. Roast for 25 minutes, then remove from the oven and baste with the pan juices.
Cook the chickpeas & shallots
While the chicken is roasting, tip the drained chickpeas onto a clean tea towel, fold it over and rub gently back and forth to loosen the skins. Pick out and discard the skins.
Quarter the shallots. Toss the skinned chickpeas with the quartered shallots, 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, the cumin, chilli flakes and a little more salt and pepper. Spread in a single layer on a rimmed baking tray.
Add the chicken to the chickpea tray. Roast for a further 20 minutes.
Remove the chicken and check it is cooked through, the skin browned and the juices running clear; set aside to rest. If the chickpeas are crisp, take them out too; if not, roast for a further 5–10 minutes.
Cook the bulgur wheat
While the chicken and chickpeas are cooking, cook the bulgur wheat according to packet instructions (I love to add vegetable stock instead of water to cook it). For a wheat/gluten free option you can use quinoa instead.
Cook the spinach & make the tahini sauce
Put the frozen spinach in a microwave-safe bowl with a splash of water, partially cover with a lid or plate and microwave for 4 minutes. Set aside and, once cool enough to handle, squeeze out the excess water.
Make the tahini sauce: Crush the garlic. Stir together the tahini, lemon juice, crushed garlic and 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil. The mixture will thicken, so loosen it with a little coldwater until pourable.
Assemble the bulgur salad
Chop the flat leaf parsley, fresh dill, fresh mint and spring onions.
Fluff the cooked, cooled bulgur with a fork, then stir through the flat leaf parsley, dill, mint, spring onions and 1½ tablespoons olive oil.
Layer the salad: herby bulgur on the bottom, then the warm spinach, then the roasted chickpeas and shallots, then the chicken.
Spoon over the tahini sauce and serve while the chicken is still warm.
