THE FITBUG RECIPE BOOK

Posted 23 July 2008

Grilled lemon chicken with chickpea and feta salad

The warm weather has arrived (hurrah!) which means it's the perfect time to think about summer cooking - the less time in the kitchen and more time spent outside the better! This recipe is beautifully simple and makes the most of fresh flavours. If you're vegetarian, the chickpea salad is substantial enough to have alone - serve a large portion with crusty wholemeal bread.

Serves 4

Calories per serving: 374

Ingredients:

For the chicken

• 4 chicken breasts
• 1 large garlic clove
• zest and juice of 1 large lemon
• ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil

For the chickpea salad

• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced and sauteed.
• 6-8 plum tomatoes,diced
• 2 roasted red pepper, thinly sliced (can be ready roasted)
• 1 handful fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 handful fresh basil, chopped
• 100g reduced fat feta, diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1-2 tbsp lemon juice
• ground black pepper

How to:

• Slice each chicken fillet through the middle but don't cut completely through. Open each fillet and lie flat in a baking dish. In a bowl mix together the lemon juice, garlic, zest, black pepper and olive oil. Pour over the chicken breasts and leave to marinade for as long as you can (you can leave overnight)
• In a large bowl mix together the chickpeas, tomatoes, peppers, onion and feta. Pour over the olive oil, lemon juice and herbs and mix well to combine. Chill until ready to serve.
• When you're ready to eat, heat a griddle pan or grill to its highest setting and griddle the chicken fillets until cooked through -you can spoon over the marinade whilst they are cooking.
When the chicken is ready pile an equal amount of the chickpea salad onto the middle of each plate and place the chicken on the top. Garnish with a handful of watercress or rocket and a wedge of lemon.