Spanish Spiced Grilled Chicken
I was in a restaurant several years ago while in Barcelona and the chef brought out a perfectly juicy (probably sous-vide) piece of grilled chicken smothered in this delicious salsa verde. It has a hint of mint and is tangy to the palate, with notes of vinegar. This is my summer go-to tapas style chicken – hopefully a recreation of that wonderful Spanish dinner I had all those years ago. You can either serve this chicken piping hot off the grill and let everyone spoon their own generous serving of the salsa verde, or serve the chicken on a communal plate with the gorgeous green salsa drizzled over the centre of the beautifully sliced and fanned out chicken breast.
Enjoy!
For the Spice Mixture
- 1 tbsp. spanish paprika
- 1 tbsp. smoked paprika
- 2 tsp. cumin seeds
- 2 tsp. mustard seeds
- 2 tsp. fennel seed
- 1 tsp. coarsely ground pepper
- 1 ½ tsp. sea salt
For the Parsley-Mint Salsa Verde
- 1½ cup mint leaves
- ¾ cup parsley leaves
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2 jalapeño chilies
- 2 tbsp. honey
- 2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 1 cup olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Olive oil to drizzle on the chicken
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Instructions
- Preheat the grill to medium high.
- Place all the Spice Mixture ingredients in a blender and blend until a coarse powder is achieved. Don’t wash the blender, use it for the Parsley-Mint Salsa Verde.
- Drizzle olive oil on the chicken and spread the Spice Mixture evenly over the four chicken breasts.
- Grill the chicken breasts for 6 minutes per side or until cooked through.
- While the chicken is grilling, place the 2 jalapeños for the Parsley-Mint Salsa Verde on the grill, and grill until both sides are charred, about 3-4 minutes per side.
- Remove the chicken from the grill, cool, and slice into slices.
- Remove the grilled jalapeños, let cool.
- Make the Parsley-Mint Salsa Verde. Remove some of the charred skin from the grilled jalapeños, then remove the seeds and stems and place in the blender. Place all the remaining ingredients for the Parsley-Mint Salsa Verde in the blender. Pulse until you have a blended-but-still-chunky texture. Remove from the blender and store in a glass container.
- Serve the chicken with the Parsley-Mint Salsa Verde.
Serves 4
*recipe adapted from Bobby Flay
Spanish Spiced Grilled Chicken
Ingredients
- Olive oil to drizzle on the chicken
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
For the Spice Mixture
- 1 tbsp spanish paprika
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp mustard seeds
- 2 tsp fennel seed
- 1 tsp coarsely ground pepper
- 1 ½ tsp sea salt
For the Parsley-Mint Salsa Verde
- 1½ cup mint leaves
- ¾ cup parsley leaves
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2 jalapeño chilies
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 cup olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the grill to medium high.
- Place all the Spice Mixture ingredients in a blender and blend until a coarse powder is achieved. Don’t wash the blender, use it for the Parsley-Mint Salsa Verde.
- Drizzle olive oil on the chicken and spread the Spice Mixture evenly over the four chicken breasts.
- Grill the chicken breasts for 6 minutes per side or until cooked through.
- While the chicken is grilling, place the 2 jalapeños for the Parsley-Mint Salsa Verde on the grill, and grill until both sides are charred, about 3-4 minutes per side.
- Remove the chicken from the grill, cool, and slice into slices.
- Remove the grilled jalapeños, let cool.
- Make the Parsley-Mint Salsa Verde. Remove some of the charred skin from the grilled jalapeños, then remove the seeds and stems and place in the blender. Place all the remaining ingredients for the Parsley-Mint Salsa Verde in the blender. Pulse until you have a blended-but-still-chunky texture. Remove from the blender and store in a glass container.
- Serve the chicken with the Parsley-Mint Salsa Verde.