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Roast Vegetables, Bulgur Wheat & Chicken Salad Recipe

We love a good chicken salad and the roasted cauliflower in this Roast Vegetables, Bulgur Wheat & Chicken Salad recipe works perfectly with chicken and the earthy flavours of tahini dressing and za’atar spice.
20 Mins 30 Mins Medium Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 1 lemon
  • 120g cauliflower florets
  • 3 tbsp za’atar spice, divided
  • 1 punnet(s) baby plum tomatoes (250g)
  • 120g bulgur wheat
  • 1 or 2 spring onions
  • 1 bunch(es) flat-leaf parsley
  • 210g diced chicken thigh
  • 250g natural yoghurt
  • 3 tbsp tahini paste

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200C.
  2. Zest and halve the lemon.
  3. Fill and boil your kettle.
  4. Pop the cauliflower florets and tomatoes on a large baking tray, scatter over half the lemon zest and half the za’atar. Drizzle with oil, salt and pepper and mix well.
  5. Bake until the cauliflower is golden and just cooked and the tomatoes are just starting to burst, 15 to 18 minutes.
  6. Pour the water for the bulgur wheat (240ml) into a saucepan with a pinch of salt. Stir in the bulgur, bring back up to the boil and simmer for 1 minute.
  7. Pop a lid on the pan and remove from the heat. Leave to the side for 12 to 15 minutes or until ready to serve.
  8. Meanwhile, trim the spring onions then slice thinly, and roughly chop the parsley (stalks and all).
  9. Heat a drizzle of oil in a frying pan over high heat. Once hot, add the chicken, season well with salt and pepper and cook, stirring regularly, until golden and cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes.
  10. Add the remaining za’atar and cook for a further 1 minute. Check that the chicken is cooked i.e. there is no longer pink in the middle.
  11. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the tahini with 2 tablespoons of water. Mix in the yoghurt and the juice from half the lemon. Taste and add salt and pepper.
  12. Once the bulgur wheat is cooked, fluff up with a fork and stir through the sliced spring onion, half the parsley, remaining lemon zest and juice. Taste and add salt and pepper.
  13. Stir through the cooked cauliflower and tomatoes.
  14. Divide the bulgur wheat between plates. Top with the chicken and drizzle over the yoghurt tahini sauce.
  15. Sprinkle over the remaining parsley.
Roast Vegetables, Bulgur Wheat & Chicken Salad Recipe

Recipe notes

There are some vegetables that are made for roasting, and the cauliflower in this Roast Vegetables, Bulgur Wheat & Chicken Salad is one of them. Golden and caramelised, it works perfectly with chicken and the earthy flavours of the tahini yoghurt dressing and za’atar spice.

The tahini yoghurt sauce is a healthy and versatile dressing worth adding to your repertoire. It can also be used as a dip to serve with fresh vegetables.

If you want the tahini yoghurt sauce thicker than the consistency of natural yoghurt, then simply line a colander (placed in a bowl) with cheesecloth and drain some of the excess liquid in the yoghurt overnight.

Za’atar (zaatar or zahtar) spice is a blend of savoury dried herbs like oregano, marjoram or thyme, and earthy spices like cumin and coriander, with sesame seeds, salt and the most important ingredient of all… sumac! Sumac gives it the delicious unexpected tanginess that is the key to good za’atar.

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