County Kildare, Ireland
Harissa Chicken Breast with golden Hasselback Potatoes
35 Minutes
4 Servings
Introduction
An easy meal to prepare ahead of time for weeknights or lunch. This Tunisian Harissa spice is such a lovely combination or warm and spicy to give your standard chicken breasts a lift! It also gives a certain sweet, tangy and smoky flavour that makes you completely forget you are eating the humble chicken breast. You can of course switch this up for any other type of meat but if you are looking for lean protein with flavour then this fits the bill. This is served with Hasselback potatoes, which is achieve by slicing across short side about 2/3 of each potato. This allows for the potatoes to cook quickly, evenly and take in more of the flavours.
This recipe is one to keep for busy meal prep weeks or an option for leftover meat and vegetables in the fridge. Tasty when left to marinate for a minimum of 4 hours but even better the next day. Simply pop in the oven when ready and prepare the potatoes just before cooking - what's not to love! Cooking can be fun and exciting when you have control on the spices and ingredients as well as always having the option to change up the side dish.
Steps
Heat the oven to 200C/fan and oil the roasting pan
Prep and score the chicken top and season with spices
Set aside to marinate (place in fridge if doing ahead)
Clean and cut potatoes, score the top, season
Chop the onions and prep other vegetables
Place chicken in an oven tray with the potatoes, asparagus, onions and other vegetbles
Cook in the oven at 200C/fan 180C/gas 6 for 35mins
Serve into plates or tupperware for meal prep
Blog
I'll keep saying this like a broken record - I love to cook and make new and exciting meals to have during the week. It really is something to look forward to every meal and no matter how dull or intense the day has been, my food always makes me smile once I start to smell the aroma or take a bit. I am still using my blackboard almost 4 years strong - thanks sis! This def helps with my menu for the week which saves food wastage. Additionally it means when the week gets busy and I really don't have time to think about cooking, I know what's in the fridge and also what on earth is planned to eat on a particular day! We don't always stick to this so for instance I might be feeling Friday’s dinner on a Tuesday and that’s totally fine! It just means am not staring at the open fridge for ages not figuring out what to eat 🤦🏽♀. Meal planning saves a lot of hassle (no pun intended) and money in the long run!
How to make
For the chicken marinated, this is very simple mix the harissa spice with a little salt and black pepper. Rub the chicken on all sides with the chilli infused oil, harissa spice, salt, and black pepper. Place aside on an oil roast pan to marinate whilst you complete the next steps or allow marinade for 4 hours +. For the harissa spice this can easily be sourced from your local supermarket such as Tesco, Aldi, Morrisons or Dunnes. I have been to all and seen them recently and you could also source online but it is definitely very accessible. Try to make sure the chicken breasts are similar size so they cook evenly, the size will also determine how long your chicken cooks so make sure you check it is fully cooked with a thermometer if you have one and/or that the meat is no longer pink inside and juices run clear.
Now for the potatoes, wash and dry pat them. You want to slice short side about 3/4 the way through 1cm apart to create the hassle back effect across the potato (be careful not to cut all the way through on both ends). Rub with chilli oil and season with dill, salt and black pepper. Cooking can be customised so never be afraid to increase or reduce things to your liking. You can get chilli infused oil from Lidl or make yours with olive oil infused with chilli flakes or whole bird eye chilli.
Next wash and chop the vegetables, snap the hard ends of the asparagus placing into the oven dish with halved them quarter red onions and any other options veg. If using any other veg, do the prep now too. Bring the chicken out and place in an over tray scattering the vegetables in the pan. Place the tray in an oven as 200c (fan) and set a timer for 25mins, check and rotate potatoes, you can also cover with foil to avoid burning if not cooking evenly.
The chicken is ready when the juices run clear (74 degrees c) and the potatoes are golden brown. Serve your meal on a plate with minimal effort or allow to cool before storing in Tupperware. Serve a piece of chicken, up to 4 potatoes each and vegetables - voila!
Hope you try this out, let me know in the comments if you do and if you made amendments based on your preferences.
Enjoy!
#Lunch #Dinner #Excitingmeals #Quickmeals #freshlymade #mealprep #mealplanning #mealprepper #adulting101 #adulting
- 4 Chicken breast (700g)
Asparagus bunch (8 -12 spares)
4 small red onions
3 - 4 tbps Harissa spice
1 tbps paprika
1 - 2 tbps dill
Salt & Black Pepper to taste
Chilli Oil 2tbps
16 Baby Potatoes (450g)
Optional -leftover grated vegetables, shallots, carrots, tomatoes