Smoky Grilled Chicken With Cucumber

Here’s a really fun, delicious meal to kick off grilling season: smoky grilled chicken thighs with cucumber-yogurt sauce.

In essence, this meal reminds me very much of how my mother makes and serves chicken souvlaki : she grills garlic- and basil-marinated chicken and serves it with tzatziki, pita or flatbread, lemon wedges, and often a cucumber salad on the side.

Here, the spices and sauces look farther east: the chicken marinates with cumin, coriander, and smoked paprika, the cucumber-yogurt sauce is inspired by an Indian recipe , and the spiced green sauce, skhug, is a condiment often used in Yemeni and Israeli cooking.

Note: You don’t have to make the skhug — the chicken + cucumber yogurt sauce + bread is a fine meal on its own — but if you haven’t yet made skhug, I encourage you to give it a go. Once you make skhug once, you will want to put it on everything.

Components of Smoky Grilled Chicken Platter

• Chicken Thighs (or Breasts) marinated with garlic, cumin, coriander, and smoked paprika. If you’re up for it, toast whole spices and grind them — they’re just a little bit more fragrant and flavorful.
• Yogurt Sauce : Inspired by the yogurt sauce in this Bon Appetit recipe , this one includes grated cucumber, fresh lemon and garlic. (Note: this is a sauce that is equally delicious with grilled eggplant, roasted red peppers, grilled fish … it’s just a really nice, fresh, tangy sauce.)
• Flat Bread : Homemade naan is delicious here, but if you are pressed for time, buy the bread! I love the Stonefire Naan brand . It’s soft, pliable, and so delicious, a perfect accompaniment to this meal.
• Skhug, (pronounced skoog), is a Middle Eastern (often used in Yemeni and Israeli cooking) blend of herbs, chilies, and toasted spices: here there’s parsley, cilantro, cumin, coriander as well as a heap (1/2 cup) of hot chilies. Because the chilies are seeded, the sauce is not terribly spicy.
• Optional: Harissa : I made this meal last summer at a cooking class at the Hillsdale General Store and we served it with homemade harissa, which is another really nice condiment for this meal. If you’re feeling ambitious, make both the skhug and the harissa.

Wishing you all a lovely long weekend.

PS: Marinating and Grilling 101

PPS: ALL the Recipe for Memorial Day Weekend

Here’s the play-by-play: Rub chicken thighs with garlic, smoked paprika, toasted and ground cumin and coriander, salt, and pepper.

Drizzle in a few tablespoons of oil and rub to coat. Marinate for at least 1 and up to 12 hours.

Light the coals. I like using chimney starters for this. More grilling tips here: Grilling 101 .

When the coals turn white, dump them into the grill, pushing them to one side to allow some of the grill to remain cool-ish.

Grilling in the rain. Yes. You. Can.

These chicken thighs cook for about 3 minutes a side over super hot coals.

Transfer meat to a platter and let rest for at least 10 minutes.

Meanwhile: Make a cucumber-yogurt sauce with grated cucumber, garlic, Greek yogurt, lemon, and salt.

If you wish, make some skhug (a favorite), too. Recipe is below; more in-depth how-to here .

To serve, smear the cucumber-yogurt sauce on a plate, top with grilled chicken, drizzle with skhug, and serve with lemon wedges.

Also: bread! Homemade naan is delicious here, but I love this store-bought brand: Stonefire naan .

Description

Notes:

• As always, you can use boneless, skinless chicken breasts in place of the thighs. If you do, I suggest you pound them lightly, so each breast is an even thickness. This could be 3/4-1-inch thick (or thicker or thinner). You will likely need to grill for less time, so keep an eye on them.
• Scale this recipe up as needed. A good rule of thumb: Use 1 teaspoon kosher salt per pound of meat. Diamond Crystal kosher salt (red box) is what I use.
• I like toasting whole cumin and coriander seeds and grinding them in my mortar and pestle, but you can substitute ground spices in place of the whole. If you do, use less — 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of each.
• Another nice condiment to serve here: Homemade Harissa .

For the chicken:

• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, see notes above
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, see notes above
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 to 1.5 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs ( 3 to 4)
• kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely minced
• a few tablespoons grapeseed oil

For the Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce:

• 1 large or 3 small c ucumbers (about 8 oz )
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt, I like the Fage 5%
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1.5 tablespoons fresh-squeeze lemon juice (from about 1/2 a lemon)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For serving:

• naan or pita bread, I like the Stonefire naan brand
• lemon wedges
• skhug

1. Place a small, dry skillet over medium heat and toast the coriander and cumin seeds until they begin to darken and smell fragrant. Transfer them to a mortar and use a pestle to grind to a powder. Add the smoked paprika and stir to combine.
2. Place the chicken thighs in a large bowl or in a large ziplock bag. Season all over with salt (about 1 teaspoon per pound) and pepper to taste. Rub with the minced garlic. Add the spice blend and oil and mix with your hands to evenly coat the chicken in the oil and spices. Place chicken in fridge. Marinate for at least one hour and up to 12. If possible, bring chicken to room temperature before grilling (about an hour or so beforehand.)
3. Meanwhile, make the cucumber-yogurt sauce: Grate the cucumber coarsely on a box grater. In a medium bowl, stir the cucumber into the yogurt, along with the garlic, and lemon. Season with the salt, starting with 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, adding an additional 1/4 teaspoon if necessary.
4. When ready to grill: preheat a gas grill to high or prepare coals for high heat. For charcoal grilling, fill two chimney starters with coals and let them burn for about 30 minutes. Then, dump the coals into the grill (piling them on one side to allow one half or one third of the grill to be a cooler zone), replace the grate, and let it heat for at least 5 minutes. Scrape the grates.
5. When grill is hot, transfer the chicken uncovered to the grates. Grill, without touching, for about 3 minutes. Flip. And grill for another 2 to 3 minutes or until a thermometer registers 165ºF (or a little bit less to account for carryover cooking). Transfer meat to a platter or cutting board to rest for at least 10 minutes.
6. While the chicken rests, warm the pita or naan — you can do this right on the grill or in the toaster. Gather all of the remaining condiments: cucumber-yogurt sauce, skhug (if making), and lemon wedges. Cut chicken into smallish (1- to 2-inch) pieces.
7. To serve: I liked to smear the cucumber-yogurt sauce on a platter, pile the chicken on top, and drizzle some of the skhug over as well. But you could also serve each component separately, letting the eaters assemble as they wish. I like serving the bread on the side and using it as a vehicle to scoop or to make mini sandwiches, but you could also make larger pita-pocket sandwiches.

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Category: Dinner
• Method: Grill
• Cuisine: American

Description

Notes:

• As always, you can use boneless, skinless chicken breasts in place of the thighs. If you do, I suggest you pound them lightly, so each breast is an even thickness. This could be 3/4-1-inch thick (or thicker or thinner). You will likely need to grill for less time, so keep an eye on them.
• Scale this recipe up as needed. A good rule of thumb: Use 1 teaspoon kosher salt per pound of meat. Diamond Crystal kosher salt (red box) is what I use.
• I like toasting whole cumin and coriander seeds and grinding them in my mortar and pestle, but you can substitute ground spices in place of the whole. If you do, use less — 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of each.
• Another nice condiment to serve here: Homemade Harissa .

For the chicken:

• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, see notes above
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, see notes above
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 to 1.5 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs ( 3 to 4)
• kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely minced
• a few tablespoons grapeseed oil

For the Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce:

• 1 large or 3 small c ucumbers (about 8 oz )
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt, I like the Fage 5%
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1.5 tablespoons fresh-squeeze lemon juice (from about 1/2 a lemon)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For serving:

• naan or pita bread, I like the Stonefire naan brand
• lemon wedges
• skhug

1. Place a small, dry skillet over medium heat and toast the coriander and cumin seeds until they begin to darken and smell fragrant. Transfer them to a mortar and use a pestle to grind to a powder. Add the smoked paprika and stir to combine.
2. Place the chicken thighs in a large bowl or in a large ziplock bag. Season all over with salt (about 1 teaspoon per pound) and pepper to taste. Rub with the minced garlic. Add the spice blend and oil and mix with your hands to evenly coat the chicken in the oil and spices. Place chicken in fridge. Marinate for at least one hour and up to 12. If possible, bring chicken to room temperature before grilling (about an hour or so beforehand.)
3. Meanwhile, make the cucumber-yogurt sauce: Grate the cucumber coarsely on a box grater. In a medium bowl, stir the cucumber into the yogurt, along with the garlic, and lemon. Season with the salt, starting with 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, adding an additional 1/4 teaspoon if necessary.
4. When ready to grill: preheat a gas grill to high or prepare coals for high heat. For charcoal grilling, fill two chimney starters with coals and let them burn for about 30 minutes. Then, dump the coals into the grill (piling them on one side to allow one half or one third of the grill to be a cooler zone), replace the grate, and let it heat for at least 5 minutes. Scrape the grates.
5. When grill is hot, transfer the chicken uncovered to the grates. Grill, without touching, for about 3 minutes. Flip. And grill for another 2 to 3 minutes or until a thermometer registers 165ºF (or a little bit less to account for carryover cooking). Transfer meat to a platter or cutting board to rest for at least 10 minutes.
6. While the chicken rests, warm the pita or naan — you can do this right on the grill or in the toaster. Gather all of the remaining condiments: cucumber-yogurt sauce, skhug (if making), and lemon wedges. Cut chicken into smallish (1- to 2-inch) pieces.
7. To serve: I liked to smear the cucumber-yogurt sauce on a platter, pile the chicken on top, and drizzle some of the skhug over as well. But you could also serve each component separately, letting the eaters assemble as they wish. I like serving the bread on the side and using it as a vehicle to scoop or to make mini sandwiches, but you could also make larger pita-pocket sandwiches.

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Category: Dinner
• Method: Grill
• Cuisine: American

Find it online : https://alexandracooks.com/2019/05/24/smoky-grilled-chicken-with-cucumber-yogurt-sauce/

When braised, leeks release a ton of water, which causes them to shrink and become meltingly tender. When braised with white wine, olive oil, a little butter, and thyme, they emerge swimming in an especially fragrant broth, which can be used as a base for soup, as a sauce for pasta, or a side dish to roast chicken (or any number of meats).

Ronna Welsh, author of The Nimble Cook, where I discovered this recipe, has other ideas, too: chop them up and stuff them into a quiche, layer them on a sandwich, toss them with shaved cabbage for a salad, use them as a flavoring in pork meatballs. I’m eager to try spreading them atop pizza or focaccia .

This is the spirit of The Nimble Cook , which emphasizes ingredients and techniques more than recipes (though there are plenty of recipes to guide you along). Ronna’s goal is to give you building blocks, which when you have on hand, allow you to be nimble in the kitchen. Throughout the book, she offers lots of tips on how to prep foods so they are easier to cook when you are pressed for time. She also tells you how best to store the foods as well as how long the foods will last in that state. So helpful.

Highlights From The Nimble Cook:

• Ronna’s dedication to using every part of everything. This woman does not like waste. For this recipe for instance, she offers a recipe for blanched leek greens, which you can then use to make dill-and-leek-greens pesto or creamed leek greens or leek greens cream cheese. She also has a recipe for cucumber-peel kimchi, and one for white watermelon-rind gazpacho.
• Simple preparations that transform ingredients. When the book first arrived, I made her shaved collard salad every day for a week: In short, it calls for tossing (but not massaging!) thinly sliced collard greens with a little salt and sugar (interesting, right?), letting them sit for 10 minutes, then tossing them with a sharp vinaigrette . When I think collards, I think: braised for hours with bacon and vinegar. This preparation was so refreshing.
• Interesting techniques. In her recipe for the pasta with braised leeks, she calls for adding savory ricotta custard, which is a recipe she developed to double the shelf life of fresh ricotta, which is highly perishable. In short, you mix the ricotta with eggs and pecorino, and bake it. Once cooled, it can be sliced and used on sandwiches, crumbled into pasta, served on a cheese plate, or served as a dessert with compote. Cool, right?

Braised Leeks with Pasta: A Few Tips

• You can use any long noodle here — spaghetti, linguine, bucatini — but if you can find pappardelle, use it! It’s such a fun shape for this dish because the shape of the leeks mimic the shape of the noodle, and the two tangle so nicely together. I found this Culinary Tours brand at the Nisky Co-op, and I really liked it, and when I went back the next day, they were out! So stock up.
• Be sure to use only the whites and very light green parts of the leeks. The green parts, even after 50 minutes in the oven, are very hard to chew.
• If you are making the braised leeks to serve as a side dish, trim off only the very end of the root so that the leeks still stay intact once quartered. When prepping the leeks to be used for the pasta, trim off the root completely, so that the leeks do not stay intact — it helps them tangle with the noodles more easily.
• Start to finish, I would say this takes about an hour, but it’s a meal in itself — no side dish necessary — and it tastes like spring.

That’s it! Braise some leeks! Boil some noodles! Toss them together! Call dinner done.

If you have the space, I can’t recommend enough this 20-qt bowl . For soaking greens and other produce from the farm share, the little bowls just don’t do the job.

Description

From Ronna Welsh’s The Nimble Cook

A few notes:

• Be sure to use only the whites and very light green parts of the leeks. If you don’t the leeks are just a little harder to chew — not impossible, though it might require a knife-and-fork treatment.
• If you are making the braised leeks to serve as a side dish, trim the root so that the leeks will still stay intact once quartered. Having made this a few times now, I think, when prepping the leeks for pasta, it’s best to trim the root off of the leeks completely, so that the leeks do not stay intact — it helps them tangle with the noodles more easily.

For the braised leeks:

• 4 to 5 large leeks, white and light green parts only
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1/3 cup crisp white wine
• 4 tablespoons butter, cut into bits
• a few sprigs thyme
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 5 peppercorns, optional
• 10 coriander seeds, optional

For the pasta:

• 12 -oz pasta, such as pappardelle
• shaved Parmigiano Reggiano to taste
• freshly cracked black pepper to taste
• optional herbs: finely chopped parsley or chives, to taste (this is mostly for color)
• flaky sea salt, such as Maldon, to taste

1. Heat oven to 325ºF. Trim the leeks of any roots. Slice each leek lengthwise through the bulb, then once more to make quarters — if you are only making the braised leeks, it’s OK to keep the leek end intact; if you are making the pasta, cut enough of the root off so that the leek does not stay intact (see notes above). Fill a large bowl with water and submerge the leeks in it. Swish them around and carefully bend the pieces, using your fingers to release any dirt trapped between the layer of the bulbs.
2. Once clean, lift out the leeks, drain, and place in a snugly fitting roasting pan or Dutch oven — ideally something that can go on both the stovetop and oven if you plan on making the pasta — no more than two layers deep. If your leeks are extra long, cut them to fit.
3. Add the remaining ingredients. Cover and place in the oven. Braise until the leeks have dulled in color and are quite tender to a knife, and bend and flex effortlessly, about 45 – 50 minutes. Taste for salt. Cool to room temperature before storing. Store in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for 3 months.
4. Meanwhile, if making the pasta, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 2 tablespoons kosher salt. Cook pasta al dente (times will vary according to package). Reserve at least a cup of pasta cooking liquid — I like to transfer the noodles from the pot using my spider or tongs, thereby reserving all of the cooking liquid. The extra pasta cooking liquid is so nice to have on hand for heating up day-old pasta.
5. Place the pan of braised leeks on the stovetop over low heat. Transfer the cooked noodles to the pan with the leeks and toss with tongs to combine. Add pasta cooking liquid as needed — I’ve been adding at least 1/2 cup. Shave parmesan to taste over top and season with fresh cracked pepper to taste as well. If you seasoned your pasta cooking liquid as directed, you should barely need any salt here, but taste, and adjust seasonings as desired.
6. If using herbs, add them, and toss to coat. Serve, shaving more parmesan and cracking more pepper over each serving if desired.

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 45 minutes
• Category: Pasta
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: French, Italian