Chicken And Spinach With Yogurt And Mild Spices Recipes

CHICKEN AND SPINACH WITH YOGURT AND MILD SPICES

Steps:

• Heat up frozen spinach in a covered pot until soft but do not overcook. Discard excess water (if any). In a large pan, heat up oil, add chopped onions and sauté until clear. Move the onions to the side of the pan and add bay leaves and all the spices to warm oil in the center. Add diced chicken and mix well. Cook mixing regularly for about 15 minutes (until chicken is cooked). Remove bay leaves. Chop spinach in a food processor and add to chicken mix. Add yogurt, salt, mix well, and cook for 5 minutes.

GRILLED CHICKEN BREASTS IN SPICED YOGURT

Steps:

• Whisk together 1 cup yogurt, 2 tablespoons oil, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, salt, and spices, then add chicken and turn until coated well. Marinate at room temperature 20 minutes.
• While chicken is marinating, prepare grill for cooking. If using a charcoal grill, open vents on bottom of grill, then light charcoal. Charcoal fire is medium-hot when you can hold your hand 5 inches above rack for 3 to 4 seconds. If using a gas grill, preheat burners on high, covered, 10 minutes, then reduce heat to moderate.
• While grill is heating, whisk together remaining 1 1/4 cups yogurt and 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice and salt to taste.
• Grill chicken (discard marinade), covered only if using gas grill, on lightly oiled grill rack, turning over occasionally, until just cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes total. Transfer chicken to a platter.
• Toss together mint, shallot, and remaining tablespoon oil in a small bowl. Drizzle chicken with yogurt sauce and top with mint salad.

MIDDLE EASTERN SPINACH WITH SPICES AND YOGURT

Steps:

• Heat a small dry skillet over medium heat, and add the clove, allspice berries, and coriander seeds or cumin seeds. Heat, shaking the pan, until the spices begin to smell toasty, about three minutes. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool for a few minutes, then grind in a spice mill. Add the cinnamon, and set aside.
• In a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic with 1/4 teaspoon salt to a paste, and stir into the yogurt. Set aside.
• Place the baby spinach in a bowl, and add just enough boiling water to cover. Let sit for a couple of minutes, then drain, rinse with cold water, squeeze out excess water, and chop coarsely.
• Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a wide, heavy skillet, and add the pine nuts. Stir until they begin color (two to three minutes), then remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the spices to the oil. When they begin to sizzle, cook for about 30 seconds and add the spinach, toasted pine nuts, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring, until the spinach is heated through and coated with the oil and spices, two to three minutes. Transfer to a serving dish, and spoon the yogurt over the top.

CHICKEN AND SPINACH WITH INDIAN SPICES

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, season with salt and pepper, and cook until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, add onions, and grate in garlic. Cook and stir until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Stir garam masala, paprika, and a bit more salt into the skillet. Stir in tomatoes and tomato paste. Add a couple handfuls of spinach; cook until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Repeat until all spinach is incorporated into the sauce. Cover and simmer until flavors combine, 10 to 15 minutes.

CHICKEN WITH YOGURT AND SPICES

Steps:

• Add the first 4 ingredients to a shallow dish; stir to mix well.
• Add the yogurt, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, and salt; stir to mix well.
• Add the chicken to the dish; spoon the sauce over the chicken to coat well.
• Cover with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
• Spray broiler pan with non-stick cooking spray.
• Take chicken out of marinade and drain well; discard marinade.
• Put chicken in the broiler pan.
• Broil 3 inches from heat source for about 5 minutes, turning once, or until chicken is browned and cooked through.
• Serve.

MIDDLE EASTERN SPINACH WITH SPICES AND YOGURT

Steps:

• Heat a small dry skillet over medium heat and add the clove, allspice berries, and coriander seeds or cumin seeds. Heat, shaking the pan, until the spices begin to smell toasty, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool for a few minutes, then grind in a spice mill. Add the cinnamon, and set aside.
• In a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic with 1/4 teaspoon salt to a paste, and stir into the yogurt. Set aside.
• Place the baby spinach in a bowl and pour on boiling water to cover. Let sit for a couple of minutes, then drain, rinse with cold water, squeeze out excess water, and chop coarsely.
• Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a wide, heavy skillet and add the pine nuts. Cook, stirring, until they begin color (2 to 3 minutes), then remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the spices to the oil. When they begin to sizzle, cook for about 30 seconds and add the spinach, toasted pine nuts, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring, until the spinach is heated through and coated with the oil and spices, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish and spoon the yogurt over the top. This is very nice served with Arabic bread.

LEMON AND GARLIC CHICKEN WITH SPICED SPINACH

Steps:

• Stir together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Cut each chicken breast into 2 equal pieces (3 if they are 12 ounces or more) and place in the bowl. Stir together and refrigerate 15 to 30 minutes.
• Combine ground allspice, coriander or cumin, and cinnamon in a small bowl or ramekin and set aside.
• Remove chicken from the marinade and pat dry (discard marinade). Place two sheets of plastic wrap (1 large sheet if you have extra-wide wrap) on your work surface, overlapping slightly, to make 1 wide sheet, and brush lightly with olive oil. Place a piece of chicken in the middle of plastic sheet and brush lightly with oil. Cover the chicken with another wide layer of plastic wrap. Working from the center to the outside, pound chicken breast with the flat side of a meat tenderizer until about 1/4 inch thick. (Don't pound too hard or you'll tear the meat. If that happens it won't be the end of the world, you'll just have a few pieces to cook.) Repeat with the remaining chicken breast pieces.
• Season pounded chicken breasts with salt and pepper on one side only. Dredge lightly in the flour (you won't use all of it).
• Turn oven on low. Heat a wide, heavy skillet over high heat and add the oil. When oil is hot, place one or two pieces of chicken in the pan - however many will fit without crowding the pan. Cook for for 1 1/2 minutes until bottom is browned in spots. Turn over and brown on other side, about 1 1/2 minutes. (Do not overcook or chicken will be dry.) Transfer to a platter or sheet pan and keep warm in the oven. If there is more than a tablespoon of fat in the pan, pour some (but not all) of it off into a jar or bowl.
• Turn burner heat down to medium. Add ground spices to the pan and when they begin to sizzle add spinach and salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon and deglazing the bottom of the pan with the liquid that comes off the spinach, until spinach wilts, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove to a platter or to plates and serve with the chicken.