3 Easy Chicken Recipes & Ideas For Dinner Or Lunch

I'm going to do a beautiful exciting dish, seared turmeric chicken with gorgeous peppers, couscous, greens and silken hummus. Really lovely and I'm taking inspiration from being in Japan and that kind of idea that food is medicine. This delicious chicken dish has three of your five a day fruit and veg. The dairy, protein and carbs you need and rocks in at only 579 calories. So first up we've got marinade and the marinade kind of hero is turmeric and one teaspoon in here is an incredible flavour. It gives amazing colour but also this has been used in traditional medicine for 4,000 years for an anti-inflammatory for things like asthma, osteoarthritis. So this is a really good thing to get in your life. It's so nutritious that even small amounts like this will make a difference. We're going to hit that up with some extra virgin olive oil, two tablespoons and I'm going to put in a really lovely herb, oregano. A little tip on these lovely woody herbs. If you just run it under a hot tap or even pop it in some boiling water just for a second you wake up all of those natural oils and you're going to get way more flavour. Finely slice and add the oregano, season with a pinch of salt and pepper then add two skinless chicken breasts and give them a good coating. If you can marinate this overnight then brilliant and even if you're going to cook it in 5, 6, 7 minutes this is going to be still delicious. So look there's our chicken, done. I've got some boiling water here, I want to lightly season that and then what I'm going to do is blanch my greens. So just quickly any greens, I love all greens. So I've got some beautiful swiss chard here, different colours. You know the different colours don't cost any more than the plain green stuff. I've got kale here which is probably the oldest British kind of green really, you know this is what our ancestors would have been eating. Purple stuff, just take that off the stalk like that. So mix it up, have fun and what I want to do here is show you a way to sort of just celebrate greens. Just drop into boiling water. These are jam packed with nutrients including vitamin C and I've got some iron rich spinach set aside to do later. Now hazelnuts, one handful of nuts a day reduces your chance of heart attacks and heart disease by 50%. Ridiculous. So I'm going to use about 15-20 grams in here, just bring them back to life as this pan heats up. So let's have a little look here. Okay, so this only had two minutes guys and I'm going to grab the greens and I'm going to put them on a little rack over here. Full of life, full of colour and still full of a lot of their goodness. Okay, remember the spinach? So this is how long I want to cook the spinach. Put the spinach in, take it out. That's all you want to do, look at that. Okay, before I get rid of this water, little tip. This is whole wheat couscous, so it's that hero whole grain again. Take 150 grams, just cover it with that nutritious water from the veg. Season, pop in a sprig of mint and simply cover and leave for 10 minutes. My nuts are nicely toasted, so give them a smash up. So look, let's get the chicken cooking. Add the oil first and then go in with our chicken. And I want to use all that marinade because I've accounted for the olive oil and all the herbs, let's get it all in there. Let's make use of it all. So I'm going to cook that about 3-4 minutes on each side until gorgeous, golden and delicious. So while it's cooking, let's get on with some lovely hummus. Empty a jar of cooked chickpeas into a blender. And now my clever trick to make this a healthy hummus is to use 2 tablespoons of gorgeous yoghurt instead of oil. We'll go in with half a clove of garlic, a pinch of cayenne, add the juice of half a lemon. The last ingredient which is really essential is tahini. It's basically sesame paste. So one teaspoon goes in and then just whizz it up. Okay, so let's have a little taste. Now, that's good. Okay, but bearing in mind this would normally have a load of oil in it. So we've pretty much halved the calories. But there's more flavour, it's kind of lighter and cleaner and it's got a little bit more attack. So I like it, I like it a lot. Let's whizz that up. This quantity makes about 8 portions. So there'll be plenty left over to enjoy the rest of the week. So look, hummus is done. Once the chicken is almost ready, add 4 slices of roasted red peppers to the same pan. Taking advantage of all those lovely juices. They're really sweet, they're really beautiful. They've already been grilled and peeled for you. And those jarred red peppers are a wonderful condiment and vegetable to get. Notice that you can pick up all the sticky bits from the marinade and the kind of chicken juices. So it's all flavour, it's all good. The colour of the chicken, look at it. Absolutely amazing. Now time to flavour up that couscous. Again, embracing and loving herbs. A nice little handful of mint. Let's just chop this up. This is going to go through the couscous. In the time that that chicken's cooked, the couscous will have doubled in size. And actually, I didn't actually know you could get whole wheat couscous. So it's such an easy trade up. Let's have a look at our couscous here. That's your carbohydrate. But also, and most importantly, slow burning carbohydrate. That's going to keep you fuller for way longer. Straight in there. Time to plate up. Dollop on that beautiful silk and skinny hummus. Just sort of give it a little back spoon, like that. And the reason that we do that is because there's juice in this pan. So I just pour it in there, that's all goodness. Don't want to lose that. Then layer on the roasted red peppers. Give it a nice little wodge of the minty couscous. Really nice. The smell of the mint is absolutely gorgeous. Let's look at the chicken. I'm just going to slice it at an angle, about a centimetre thick. And the turmeric has just coloured it so fantastically well. It's just quite nice to open up the chicken so you can see it. Very juicy, nice way to cook it. Those gorgeous greens. Look at that lovely colour. And of course when you start mixing those greens up with the hummus and all the chicken juices and the pepper. That's just beautiful. Sprinkle over the toasted hazelnuts. We've got loads and loads of couscous. That's going in the middle of the table. And that is, guess what, all in your portion. Along with this as well. So there's no shortage of greens and food. You're going to be full, super, super full. And you've got a plate full of goodness for just 579 calories. Just a gorgeous, gorgeous colourful dish. You've got all the food groups represented. You've got your protein, your carbohydrates, you've got your dairy. You've got three of your fruit and veg a day. And that's going to do your body so, so, so much good. So let's have a little taste. Right. Let's get the chick chick. The hummus. Couscous. And some greens. Some of that juice from in there. Mmm. Oh, yeah. The peppers and the hummus just getting mopped up with the couscous is a really, really good thing. For me, the flavours work really, really well together. The silky hummus, sweet peppers, the chicken with attitude. Maybe just a little squeeze of lemon. Beautiful. That is a lovely dinner. Without doubt, your body will be very, very pleased that you've given it that. That is a superfood chicken dish. Right there. Hi, guys. Hope you're well. Okay, we're going to make a really delicious, nutritious, super quick chicken meal. This is marinated chicken with lemon and spices. Grilled on a chargrill and served with smashed sweet potato and beautiful sprouting broccoli with a little olive. Let's get into the spirit and the idea behind a marinade. Down here, we have got spices. Black pepper here. Paprika. Cayenne. We've got the turmeric and a little seasoning of salt. Take this as a recipe and if you don't like the spice, you can pull it back. You can try different spices. You can make it your own. So, I'm going to grate some garlic in here. Take my little lemon. Cut in half. Lemon to one side. The fragrant skin is unbelievably tasty. We'll squeeze the lemon juice in like this. I'm just going to finely chop the parsley here. And in it goes. And then, just a little piece of onion. There's acidity in the onion. And this acidity works in marinades to really help penetrate the flavour in. I've got a little bit of tomato puree here. Just a little heaped teaspoon like that. And then we'll start bringing it together. And normally I'd use an olive oil, but I'm using rapeseed oil here. Look at that, right. That is flavour right there. Get your chicken breast. Cut that chicken breast in half. I'm going to get that marinade. Rub it all over. And of course, if you could leave this in the fridge overnight. Fantastic. I've got a griddle pan on full whack. We're going to go in to the char grill like this. Also, I've got the lemon here. We're going to char grill that. And this is interesting because when you char grill a lemon, instead of just getting acidic lemon juice, you get sweet and sour. So guys, let's have a little look. This has had about a minute and a half. Look at the colour guys, look at the colour. And that is flavour. It's caramelising, look at that. So I want to kind of pair it up with sprouting broccoli here. Boiled sweet potato. Going to smash it. And let's plate up. Very simple mid-week dinner that's tasty and really, really healthy. That is done. Look at that guys. Some nice sprouting broccoli here. Little olives. If you just break over just a couple, the flavour is phenomenal. Got the lemon that's char grilled. Just finish that off with that lovely rapeseed oil. Squeeze that lemon over the top. Shall we have a little try? Yum. Very, very good. That's absolutely delicious. A lovely, quick mid-week meal. Full of flavour, full of flavour. And if you want more inspiration, go to jamieoliver.com. We've got loads of recipes, loads of chicken recipes. But guys, get marinating. It's great. Take care. Without question, my teenagers love a bit of breadcrumb chicken. As do I. And I wanted to use that love of crispy breadcrumb chicken to come up with a slightly different version. I'm just going to break it down into a slightly simpler version that's easier and faster to do. I'm telling you, this is joyful, really good fun. And the end result is something just colourful, full of flavour and really delicious. So what I want to do is tenderise this piece of chicken. So lay some greaseproof paper. Just get two little sheets. This is a nice free range chicken breast. You've naturally got a fat side here and a thin side there. Equal that out. So grab a rolling pin and just start giving it a little bang. And that's literally going to tenderise this. Flatten it out. Already that's made a difference. We can go a bit further. So look, that's done. Second one goes on. Start off a little softer. If you just smash it, you know, you're going to turn it into a burger. So gently, gently. Then harder. Try and keep whatever it is you're whacking nice and flat. It's going to be more tender and it's going to cook more evenly and faster. So that is absolutely a triple pleasure. Score into the chicken every centimetre. Turn it around and do it the other way. It looks pretty. And it's going to create a surface area where it gets really crispy and gnarly. And it also clings on to anything you happen to sprinkle on top. Right, let me just wash my hands. Okay, this is exciting. You can see I've got a massive smile on my face. And that is because the flavours in this dish make me happy. So I've bashed and scored the chicken. Now it's perfect for seasoning up. Some sea salt. And black pepper as well. And then the juice of half a lemon. And we'll just kiss that then. Pat it all over. And then I'm going to go in with just a little bit of plain flour. Pat that flour in. Both sides. Rub it in and around. Happy blooming days. The lemon juice flavours the chicken. And it makes the flour stick to it. I didn't want to do the flour, eggs and breadcrumbs. And get all the different plates out and have more washing up to do. This is just a little bit simpler and we can get cooking much quicker. So I'll put this on the plate ready to go. Like that. Let's have a little clear up and wash the hands again. I'm going to put a large pan on a medium high heat. We'll let that heat up. And then I want to show you how to make some breadcrumbs. Of course you can buy the breadcrumbs. No trouble at all. I quite like making my own. If you use just standard bread, it's going to be delicious. If you've got some nice sourdough bread, it's going to be amazing. Just a little bit like that. 30 grams, something like that. And just take it up like this. Rip it up. Make sure you tear up the crust because they can be quite tough. And then take any herb. And that just gives it a nice flavour. That's an extra. Herbs like thyme, sage, rosemary. These are all fantastic. Just get the lid on there like that and whizz it up. Now I quite like that because there's some chunks in there. Sort of semi-fine. I like it being rustic. And then I'm working on how to take these breadcrumbs to the next level. Okay. Bacon with the breadcrumbs and the chicken is a thing of joy. And whether it's pancetta or smoky bacon, as long as it's smoked I'm happy. That's going to be a game changer. Finely slice that up into little matchsticks. I just need two rashers. It's a beautiful thing. And my two teenagers just love it. It's always something that makes me happy. It's a wonderful treat meal. Let's just get cooking. I'm going to go in with a tablespoon of olive oil. To start rendering that incredible smoky bacon fat. And then we can just push the bacon to one side. And just sort of tilt the pan. And that smoky bacon fat will be the first thing that starts cooking the chicken. And it's going to be amazing. I promise you. So the bacon and the chicken all cooking with each other in harmony. It's going to be a thing of beauty. Now the bacon's getting nice and golden. Let's go in with the breadcrumbs. Move the breadcrumbs around in the bacon bits. So all of this is going to get gorgeous and golden and crispy. In the same time it takes for the chicken to get perfectly cooked. And we don't want to overcook the chicken. We want it to be perfect but not dry. You've got that chicken nice and thin. You know, three minutes on each side should be enough. So while that's doing it's magic, let's flip the board. Avocado, a massive hit with my family. I want to make, inspired by guacamole, a kind of smashed avocado. But I want to freshen it up and I want it to be really spoonable and fresh and smooth. Carefully put the knife in a ripe avocado. Move it around carefully. And then just clink it like that. And you've got the seed here. Put the actual avocado on the board. Give it a tap and then you can remove it, okay. But you don't want to be doing any of this kind of in your hand stuff. Don't do it. And then to get the seed out just tap like that. Happy days. You can try and grow it if you want. Get the avocados into the mixer. Squeeze it in like this. Pinch of salt. The other half of the lemon juice. Put your hands out here to catch any seeds if need be. And then organic yoghurt. Just a tablespoon. Lid on top and whazz it up. We want it to be really silky smooth. But with the crunch of the bacon bits it's going to be really tasty. I'm just going to check on this chicken because I've got good feelings that nice things are happening. Yes! The breadcrumbs and the bacon has kind of cooked into it. That is what we want. So back in the pan we go. Moving those breadcrumbs around, giving it a little shake. It smells really, really good. I'm going to turn this down now. Okay so that's good. Let's plate up. The heat is off. I'm very, very pleased with that. The smashed avocado is done. Have a little taste first. Seasoning is good actually. Divide this by your two plates. And kind of use the back of the spoon just to push it around. Teenagers love it smooth, as do I. Because the whole idea of like crunch and smooth and then succulent chicken is a really good thing. If you're nervous about cooking chicken, which is quite common, just take the knife and slice through it into like three or four. And then just turn it on its side and you can see if it's all cooked through, which this is. Beautiful. So let's just move this across. And then as you're kind of putting it down you can kind of just like wonk it up a little bit. So it's all here, there and everywhere. For me that's just a really fast, fuss free. Look how juicy that chicken is. Absolutely delicious. So crispy chicken and then we've got the breadcrumbs here. So, it's so funny because so often it's like the crunchy bits that get everyone going. The breadcrumbs and the bacon has gone so crispy. It's a really nice little technique and the flavour is phenomenal. All of my kids fight for these bits. And look if I'm cooking for the little ones, then often I'll just like cut the avocado up and they may or may not eat it. But they definitely don't want the kind of smooth stuff. Serve that with a little wedge of lemon. The last little flare, which is a little bit Jackson Pollock, is chilli sauce. And just kind of go nuts about it. Just let it go everywhere. That feels like a really optimistic, uplifting, exciting midweek dinner. It'll put a massive smile, look you can see the smile right. That's because I'm salivating at what I know I'm going to taste. All I would have with that is a nice little chopped salad. Right, enough yapping. It would only be fair to have a little try. So let's go for the chicken. When you pick it up you get in those bacon bits with some of that avocado, yes. Then the breadcrumbs stick to it. Crunch. Mmm. I love it. Succulent chicken. And then it's just got all the little things that I love to have with it. Silky avocado, breadcrumbs, bacon, little bit of chilli sauce. Oh, I'm absolutely over the moon. I think if you had a go at that, you'd be really pleased with yourself. It's quick and fast to do. It's nice to do it for two people. And if there's more people, do a second round. You know, you're going to have to really try hard to get someone not to love it. Avocado gets more exciting. Hit of chilli, wow. Little salad. Happy days.