Suya-Spiced Chicken Cobb Salad

Michelle Davies — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 04:41:40 +0000

Suya-Spiced Chicken Cobb Salad by Marbie’s Kitchen

I’ve never been a fan of cold and plain salad. For me to enjoy a salad, it needs to be served closer to room temperature and pack a punch when it comes to flavour. This usually comes from having some great quality ingredients and a few additional steps that might take more time but make a huge difference.

Suya-Spiced Chicken Cobb Salad by Marbie’s Kitchen

For example, within this salad, I roast the corn on the cob and then take the kernels off once they have achieved a colour that’s just past golden brown for a wonderful chargrilled flavour. This adds a depth of flavour and great texture to the whole dish.

A few other key things for me with this salad are:

Ensuring I use nitrite free bacon. I source this from Waitrose and feel a bit more comfortable using this.
I make my own salad dressing and it makes all the difference! I go for a spicy-citrusy flavour with mine but you can choose to do something different. They usually take less than 5 minutes to make but it’s always worth it when you have a homemade dressing.
For aesthetics as well as a beautiful flavour, I opt for Natoora cherry tomatoes from Waitrose (not pictured this time) because of the amazing colours! You can find something similar in a farmers market near you but it just provides something different to the traditional cherry tomatoes. Alternatively, you can just choose to use some yellow and red cherry tomatoes for a similar effect.
I ensure my chicken is seasoned well and cooked in a way that ensures it is tender. If I opt for chicken breast, I’d usually brine this in a simple solution for 15 minutes max – or it’ll become salty. Then rinse, pat dry and cook at a high temperature for a short time in the oven. Alternatively, I use chicken thigh fillets which need no help in being tender and beautifully moist!

Overall, whether you stick to the same techniques I choose to or not, you’ll end up with an amazing salad packed with flavour that won’t bore you or feel like punishment!

Enjoy and don’t forget to share with your loved ones whilst you’re enjoying the dish!

Love,

Marbie

Suya-Spiced Chicken Cobb Salad

A flavoursome take on the traditional cobb salad – the dressing adds all the difference! The best part? You can choose to add or take out what you like!

Chicken

1 pack Chicken thighs or Chicken breast
3 tbsp Suya Spice (or mixed spice alternatively)
2 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tbsp Honey
Salt to taste

Bacon

6 rashers Bacon
Drizzle of Honey

Salad

2 Avocados (ripe)
1 pack Cherry tomatoes
6 Eggs (boiled)
1 Iceberg Lettuce or Kale de-stalked
2-3 Corn on the Cobs (Roasted)

Roast the Chicken

Season the chicken with the suya spice, olive oil and honey. Add salt to taste if needed.
Roast the chicken following cooking instructions on the pack until cooked but tender. Leave to rest.

Roast/Grill the Bacon

Drizzle some honey on the bacon and roast or grill until done.

Assemble the Salad

Shred the Iceberg lettuce or De-stalked kale. If using the kale option, make sure you chop it finely after you've taken it off the stalk. Once done, add to a bowl.
Take the corn kernels off the cob using a knife and add to the bowl.
Quarter the cherry tomatoes and add to the bowl.
Toss it all together at this point, because the rest of the ingredients are delicate and need minimal tossing to keep their shape.
Quarter or slice the boiled eggs, slice the avocados and add to the bowl.
Make the dressing listed here. I used passion-fruit coulis instead of the mango coulis listed this time but either works!
Mix all together to allow the dressing to coat the whole salad.
Serve and enjoy!

Roast Dinner with a Twist!

Michelle Davies — Sat, 22 Dec 2018 12:20:52 +0000

For the longest time I struggled with enjoying a roast dinner. Possibly because I grew up in Nigeria and coming to London was a huge adjustment for me food wise. I had never heard of a Yorkshire pudding and must admit, I’m naturally not a fan of white potatoes.

Aside from the obsession with rice most Nigerians have, I remember enjoying roasted corn from the high street and even better than that, roasted plantain which we fondly referred to as “Boli” (or “Bole” to some – not sure what the difference is!). Another thing I thoroughly enjoyed was white flesh sweet potatoes. It seems as though in the UK and the US, people are most accustomed to sweet potatoes with the orange flesh, especially when it comes to sweet potato fries. But honestly, the taste of the former is simply magical to me!

At some point last year, I wondered why I couldn’t simply combine all these flavours I loved and ingredients that were so nostalgic to me. These items could all be roasted and I could add the one thing I seem to love more than anything to it, which is chicken of course! I also season the chicken in a way that’s similar to how my mother used to do it. The real trick is butter and also ensuring you get that seasoning under the skin so you can really enjoy the flavour once it’s cooked! Nothing worse than amazing skin on a chicken but minimal flavour inside.

If you’re a vegetarian or would simply like some meat free meals instead, you can simply roast the vegetables in the recipe and serve it as a roast veg medley!

I can’t wait for you to tuck in and enjoy but even better than that, it’s a crowd pleaser and visually appealing so why not throw it together the next time you have people round for Christmas dinner, Sunday Roast, or even a dinner party? It’s great to go from oven to the dinner table and I promise, you’ll get requests to make it again and again.

Roast Dinner with a Twist!

The perfect way to kick your roast dinner up a notch! This brings flavours from around West Africa & some of the Caribbean to your kitchen table. Enjoy!

1 Medium Whole Chicken

Herbed Butter

1 Block Salted Butter ((250g))
1 Large White Onion
3 Cloves Garlic
1 Handful Fresh Parsley
1 Handful Fresh Thyme
2 Stems Spring Onions
2 Scotch Bonnet
3 tsp Olive oil (extra virgin)
1 tbsp Honey
1.5 tbsp Salt or Chicken Stock Seasoning Cubes

Roast Vegetables

2 Large Red Onions (Peeled & Quartered)
2 Large Plantains (Peeled)
1 Pack Cherry Tomatoes
4 Corn Cobettes
2 Large White Flesh Sweet Potatoes (Peeled)
4 Orange Flesh Sweet Potatoes (Peeled)
1 tbsp Sea Salt
1 tbsp Black Pepper
2 tbsp Olive Oil

Chicken

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius/350 Fahrenheit. My top tip for you here is to stick to the temperature given on the packaging of the chicken, but if all else fails, cook everything in life at 180 degrees or 350 Fahrenheit – haha!
Clean your chicken as normal and pat dry with a paper towel. This helps to ensure you have a nice crisp skin once it’s done roasting.
In a food processor, add all the ingredients from the herbed butter group above and blitz until it is all combined. You can do this by hand in a pestle and mortar but it’s much quicker in a food processor.

It also helps to have the block of butter at room temperature so you have a smoother consistency once done blending. If pressed for time, just chop it up and pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Use the herbed butter mixture to season the whole chicken. You want to make sure it’s all over the top of the skin but also try and get under the skin without damaging it too much. I also place some of this seasoning in the cavity/middle hole of the chicken.
Place it on a greased oven dish and pop it into the oven, cooking it for the recommended time on the packaging. Use a skewer to ensure juices run clear or better yet a meat thermometer to make sure it’s done.

Extra tip: to avoid the skin getting burnt, after 15 minutes of cooking, place foil on the skin and then take it off 15 minutes before you take it out to rest.

Leave the chicken to rest for 10 minutes once done.

Roasted Vegetables

Cut the white flesh sweet potatoes into quarters. Then do the same for the orange flesh sweet potatoes, however because the latter cooks quicker, I would usually cut them into larger chunks.
Cut the plantains into angled chunks. Then cut the corn cobbettes into half.
Toss all these together in a bowl and add the olive oil, black pepper and sea salt.
Place in an oven dish and roast these for 25 minutes at 180 degrees celsius/350 Fahrenheit till half done.
Then add the cherry tomatoes and red onions to the dish, toss and place back into the oven for another 20 minutes, checking to see if done. Once all these are cooked, squeeze the juice of half a lemon on them.
If your oven dish is large enough, place the roasted veg around the chicken. Alternatively, you can serve this in separate dishes and enjoy!

Extra Tip: If you did have some extra herbed butter left, toss it over the roasted veg just before it’s done – it works wonders!

chicken – Marbie's Kitchen

Suya-Spiced Chicken Cobb Salad

Suya-Spiced Chicken Cobb Salad

Chicken

Bacon

Salad

Roast the Chicken

Roast/Grill the Bacon

Assemble the Salad

Roast Dinner with a Twist!

Roast Dinner with a Twist!

Herbed Butter

Roast Vegetables

Chicken

Roasted Vegetables