Grilled chicken with toum, and cucumber and tomato salad

Name: Grilled chicken with toum, and cucumber and tomato salad
Cook time: 1 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Modern Australian
Ingredients: 3 large garlic cloves, peeled; 1 egg white; 1 tbsp lemon juice; salt; 200ml neutral oil (such as avocado oil)

Danielle Alvarez

January 27, 2023

Garlicky grilled chicken with a simple salad.William Meppem

Time:30 mins - 1 hourServes:4

So the holidays are over and you're ready to start the year on a lighter note. But you still want something satisfying? Well, this marinated and grilled chicken – packed with so much flavour you won't believe how quick it is to make – is for you. You can buy toum, the Lebanese garlic sauce, ready-made, but this is how I like to make it at home.

Ingredients

For the toum sauce (makes ¾ cup)

3 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 egg white
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt
200ml neutral oil (such as avocado oil)

For the marinade

1kg skinless chicken thighs
salt
¼ cup toum
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp crushed coriander seeds
1 tsp za'atar

For the salad

2 medium-sized tomatoes
2 Lebanese cucumbers
8 pickled guindilla chillies (optional)
½ small red onion
1.5 tbsp lemon juice (about the juice of ½ a lemon)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 handful parsley leaves
salt and black pepper
½ cup plain Greek yoghurt
2 tbsp toum, or to taste
pita bread, to serve

Method

1. To make the toum, place the garlic cloves, egg white, lemon juice and a pinch of salt in the bowl of a small food processor. Blend until the garlic is finely minced. With the machine running, slowly pour in the oil until it forms a thick, mayonnaise-type paste. Scoop it out into a bowl and set aside.
2. Season the chicken thighs liberally with salt and set aside. Combine the marinade ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine. (Reserve the excess toum for later.) Add the chicken to the marinade and toss to combine. Allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
3. Preheat a charcoal grill or grill pan. Grill the chicken for 3-4 minutes per side until nicely charred and fully cooked through. Set it aside to rest while you prepare the salad.
4. To make the salad, cut the tomatoes and cucumbers into large wedges. Leave the chillies whole (if using). Thinly slice the red onion and rinse the onion slices under cold running water for 5 seconds. Combine tomatoes, cucumbers, chillies (if using) and red onion in a bowl and toss with the lemon juice, olive oil, parsley leaves, salt and black pepper.
5. Mix the yoghurt with 2 tablespoons of the remaining toum (more if you like it really garlicky!) and serve alongside the chicken. Warm your pita bread on the hot grill and serve everything together.
Note: Leftover toum can be used alongside these Turkish-style sausage flatbreads