Chicken is by far the most popular protein on this island. I know some people who would eat chicken every day if they could; as much as I enjoy it I couldn’t, but can understand the sentiment since it is so easy to prepare. I’ve got an incredibly busy week with all sorts of projects and marking papers for my students. I feel so overwhelmed, and don’t feel like doing huge amounts of laborious cooking, therefore I aim to prepare easy recipes which do not take too much of my time. Typically I do copious amounts of assorted salads, but I am not quite ready to delve into salad territory with this column until the summer.

I must say Jamaicans are quite particular about their choice part of the bird, whether it is the breast, the wing, the leg or the back, for example. The feet, I must admit, are still hard for me to look at, but chicken “foot” soup is beloved by so many people. I’ll have some, but please don’t let me see the feet! It’s just too graphic for me. I suppose my British upbringing featuring sterile cuts has a lot to do with it. I’m only just now mastering fish heads, for example, because the eyes would freak me out. Likewise, when I realised mannish water contained goat’s head and tripe, it took me a while to stomach it, but now I love it. I guess age, an open palate and experience have a lot to do with one’s opening up to certain foods. Travel most definitely has had a huge impact on my life because Jamaica is quite tame compared to other countries I’ve had the privilege to visit and see what they eat. Then again it raises the question, why do we Westerners believe what we eat to be superior? It’s just simply the fact that we are comfortable with the familiar, so if one has grown up eating alligator meat or turtle as the norm, who are we to judge?

Today, I’m sharing two healthy and easy chicken dishes featuring my favourite part of the chicken, the breast, just because it is so quick-cooking and lends itself to so many different flavour combinations. However, use your preferred chicken parts for these meals. I only suggest; I don’t dictate what you eat.

Yogurt Chicken Pita Pockets

I love Lebanese food. There was this “Traiteur Libanaise” (Lebanese deli in French) around the corner from my apartment in Paris. I love those guys and they adore me because I used to always bring them back Blue Mountain coffee and tamarind balls from my trips to Jamaica. I’ve already had an email from one of them saying he is going to try a new recipe on me later this year when I make my annual trip. They were the ones that taught me to chew parsley to freshen the breath after a garlicky meal. This pita bread sandwich is great for lunch using any leftover grilled chicken breast you may have, or if you are doing it from scratch, it is a quick, healthy supper. The marinade also acts as a dressing, so after you whisk it together, reserve some to dress your pita pocket.

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts, boneless, no skin

4 wholewheat pita breads

Mixed salad leaves

_ cucumber, sliced

1 large sweet pepper, sliced

_ red onion, sliced (optional)

A few sprigs of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Marinade/Dressing

Ingredients:

400g low-fat plain yogurt

1 lime, juice and zest (or if you have sumac use 1 teaspoon. Sumac is a lemony Lebanese spice)

1 tsp cumin

1 tbsp honey

2 garlic cloves, crushed

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Mix together the marinade in a bowl and set aside half for later in a separate bowl.

Slice the chicken breast into strips and place in the marinade and let it sit for an hour or more.

Grill chicken slices until well done.

Prepare pita bread by splitting them open to make pockets

Stuff pockets with chicken, parsley and vegetables.

Drizzle with reserved dressing and serve immediately.

Jerk chicken breasts with butterbeans and cherry tomatoes

Okay I will confess here, that just like everyone else, there are times I feel lazy and use store-bought marinades instead of making them from scratch. I make a mean jerk marinade but as time is against me, as it is for many of you, there are excellent brands on the market which is only natural as we are the land of jerk cuisine. I’m in foodie heaven – local cherry tomatoes are available and in season so I am making use of them. The imported ones cost a fortune and I sometimes refuse to buy them on principle even though they look tempting at times. As I sometimes do, I will not give measurements in the following recipe, just judge how much you will need per person but as a guide use one breast per person, and one can of butterbeans for two as this is a one-pot meal that I eat with bread to mop up the lovely pan juices. I was inspired to do this recipe from a common dish served in both Spain and Morocco which features chicken cooked with tomatoes and chickpeas so I wanted to “Jamaicanise” mine.

Chicken Breasts

Ingredients:

Jerk Marinade

Cherry tomatoes, cut in half

Butterbeans

Cilantro or parsley to garnish

Oil to brush baking dish

Method:

Marinate chicken breasts with jerk marinade and lime juice for a couple of hours or overnight.

Place breasts in an oiled baking dish and bake covered for 20 minutes so that juices form.

Remove covering and add butterbeans and tomatoes and continue baking until the chicken breasts are cooked through and no longer pink, roughly 10 to 15 minutes more.

Serve with a generous amount of chopped cilantro or parsley and while you are at it, treat yourself to a nice glass of white wine with a tinge of sweet to counteract the spices such as Rose or Riesling.

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Bon Appetit!