351 – Grilled Chicken Moroccan Style Recipe / وصفة الدجاج المشوي بالطريقة المغربية

Ingredients :

• 2 chicken breasts (without bones)
• A small bunch of fresh cilantro
• 10 mint leaves
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• Salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/2 preserved lemon (just the skin)
• 2-3 garlic
• 2 tablespoons of water
• Salad, rice, or other side dishes

Directions :

Step 1: Preparing the Ingredients
1- Finely chop fresh cilantro. Get a few mint leaves and chop them too! This is going to add a nice minty taste
2- Cut, smash, and finely chop fresh garlic!!! We are going fresh all the way
3- Here is my secret ingredient: preserved lemons! I am going to use ½ a lemon. Remove the pulp, keep for later use in a tagine for example – then finely slice and chop the skin. That’s what is going to add a delicious citrusy flavor to our marinade.

Step 2: Preparing the Marinade
1- In a large bowl, mix in the olive oil, lemon juice, chopped cilantro and mint, chopped garlic, chopped preserved lemon skin, and spices. Here we have ground ginger, ground turmeric, black pepper, and fennel seeds! Mix well. Add a little bit of water to dilute the marinade.
2- Taste the marinade and add salt as needed –remember preserved lemon is salty to begin with, so you’ll have to rely on your taste!
3- Cut the chicken breast into slices, and place them in the bowl. Make sure that the chicken is well mixed with the marinade
4- Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and let the chicken marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Overnight if you want – you can have it for dinner the next day!

Step 3: Grilling the Chicken
1- You can bbq the chicken, or even better and easier, use an awesome non-stick grilling plate for an instantaneous indoor bbq! Just place the plate on your stove, let it heat up, and place the chicken…. Can you hear the sizzle! That’s what I am talking about!
2- Grill the chicken for a few minutes on both sides, and press well with your spatula, to get these nice grilling marks on the chicken!
3- Serve the chicken right away, I like to add it as topping to my salad… you just need some lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and chopped preserved lemon skin. Add your favorite dressing and here you have a healthy chicken salad Moroccan style!
Bon appetite!