Meliz's healthy chicken kebabs
Meliz is here to make her mouthwatering chicken kofta with a rice and vegetable salad, garlic dip and warm flatbreads.
The dish is bursting with Turkish flavours and spices including mint, lemon and parsley and is a healthy meal the whole family will love.
Chicken Köfte
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients:
For the chicken köfte:
500g chicken thigh fillets, blitzed in a food processor
1 red onion, coarsely grated / finely chopped (food processor)
1 large red romano / capia pepper, / small red bell pepper, finely chopped (food processor)
30g flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely grated
1 tsp pul biber
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sea salt flakes
1 tsp dried mint
2tbsp Turkish Sweet Red Pepper Paste
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
For the garlic sauce:
1 tsp finely grated garlic
4 tbsp mayonnaise
120ml runny natural yoghurt
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp finely chopped parsley
1 tsp lemon juice
¼ tsp dried mint
¼ tsp pul biber
½ tsp sea salt flakes
¼ tsp coarse black pepper
For the salad:
100g baby cucumbers / ¼ regular cucumber, deseeded, finely sliced
100g cherry / baby plum /ripe salad tomatoes, finely sliced
1 small green bell pepper, 2cm dice
1 small red onion finely sliced
50g fresh parsley, finely chopped
250g leftover cooked rice / microwave rice (brown or white is fine) (make sure the rice is hot, to soak
up the dressing)
1 tsp sea salt flakes
1 tsp dried mint
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Method
1. Add all of the köfte ingredients but only 2 tbsp of the extra virgin olive oil to a large dish, mix everything together really well then refrigerate the mixture for an hour.
2. While the köfte mixture is chilling in the fridge, preheat the oven to 190C fan / 210C.
3. Take köfte mixture out of the fridge, then using wet hands (so that the mixture doesn’t stick to your hands) shape into 6 long, and even sized, köfte, each around 18cm in length.
4. Lay the köfte on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Using two fingers, gently push down to create indents all along the köfte, ensuring that the köfte keep their shape.
5. Gently brush each kofte with the remaining 1tbsp of olive oil, and place the tray in the oven on the middle shelf for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.
6. While the köfte are cooking, prepare your garlic dip and salad - mix together the garlic dip ingredients and leave to one side.
7. Add the cucumber, tomato, pepper, onion, heated rice and parsley to a large bowl.
8. Sprinkle over the dried mint, drizzle over the extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and salt whilst the rice is still hot (so that the rice soaks up all the lovely flavours from the dressing), and stir everything together really well.
9. Once the köfte are cooked, take them out of the oven and serve immediately with the rice salad, garlic dip and hot fresh flatbreads.