With a couple of packets of chicken pieces and a little forward planning, you’ll have a week of easy meals with flavours from around the world
Chicken every night of the week. Ho-hum. Nope … not when you can hop from the tastes of the Greek islands to flavours of India, to a hit of Argentinian deliciousness. Without, we hasten to add, too much time spent in the kitchen.
All it takes is a little pre-prep to put together these freezer-friendly marinated chicken pieces. If you’ve got all the ingredients at hand, it’ll take you an hour, tops, to put these together.
We fancy breasts, but thighs work just as well – in both cases choose skinless and boneless chicken pieces.
For these recipes, we’ve used 1kg chicken – enough to feed a family of three to four. For the marinades – mix all ingredients together in a bowl, then add your chicken and massage in, pop into a freezer bag, label, and freeze until required.
Defrost a packet and then all you need do is bake, pan fry, or airfry, and add a suitable side – think Greek salad and pita breads or lemon roast potatoes for the Greek-flavoured chicken, rice works well with most, and noodles with the Asian dish.
Flavours of Greece
1/4 cup olive oil; 3 large garlic cloves (minced or finely chopped), 1 Tbsp dried oregano, sea salt and black pepper to taste, juice of one lemon, 1 cup plain full cream yoghurt (Greek if you can get it), half a cup roughly chopped fresh parsley.
A taste of Indian curry yoghurt
Half a cup full cream plain yoghurt or coconut yoghurt; 4 Tbsp lime juice, 2 tsp brown sugar; 2 Tbsp mild curry powder (or hot curry powder if you prefer); sea salt,
Island style pineapple and coconut marinade
1 cup coconut milk; half cup pineapple juice; quarter cup lime juice; 2 cloves finely minced garlic; 1 to 2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes; quarter cup brown sugar; 2 Tbsp soy sauce; chunk of fresh ginger, finely grated
Hola Mexico
Third cup olive oil; quarter cup lime juice (you’ll need about 3 limes); 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes; 2 tsp ground cumin; sea salt; half a cup roughly chopped coriander.
Flavours of Spain
Half a cup each olive oil and red wine vinegar; one cup each large pitted prunes and green pitted olives, quarter cup capers, 4 bay leaves, 6 cloves finely crushed garlic, 3 Tbsp dried oregano, sea salt and black pepper
Asian flavour ginger soy
1/2 cup soy sauce; 3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar; 2 tsp toasted sesame oil; 3 Tbsp honey; quarter cup brown sugar, 1 chunk fresh ginger, thinly sliced, 3 cloves minced or finely chopped garlic cloves, 3 or 4 spring onions, roughly chopped; optional 1 chopped jalapeño
A hit of Argentina with Chimichurri marinade
Half a cup olive oil, 2 Tbsp red or white wine vinegar, 3 or 4 garlic cloves (minced or finely chopped), 2 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp crushed red pepper or chilli flakes, sea salt to taste, 1 cup roughly chopped flat leaf parsley
The benefits of eating chicken …
Chicken is a lean protein, and a great source of amino acids – used to build muscle tissue, so it helps build stronger muscles, healthier bones and decreases your risk of osteoporosis.
Because it is a lean protein, it’s excellent for those wanting to manage their weight, which lessens health problems such as high blood pressure and heart disease. A boneless, skinless chicken breast contains 26g of protein but just 120 calories and two grams of fat.
It’s crammed with Vitamin B12, Zinc, Iron and Copper.
