A Grill and a Skillet: Yogurt Marinated Chicken Breasts with Tomatoes and Chickpeas

When the weather gets all hot and in your face, it helps to shout back. Fire up the grill, douse your food with loads of spice and fight fire with fire. What I love about this method is that not only is the food intoxicatingly flavored with aromatics, spicy heat and char, all of the cooking remains outside on the grill. In this recipe, chicken is swathed in a creamy-smoky-spicy bath that permeates and tenderizes the meat as it marinates. While the meat grills to crispy perfection, a basket of cherry tomatoes cooks down to a sweet sludge dotted with nubby chickpeas, which becomes the bed for the finished chicken. It’s served with couscous to absorb the rich pan juices and topped with a dollop of fragrant yogurt sauce. Bright, spicy and very shouty, indeed.

Yogurt and Spice Marinated Chicken Breasts with Tomatoes and Chickpeas

Serves 4 to 6.

Marinade:
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup Greek whole milk yogurt
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tablespoon smoked paprika
1/2 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne

4 large chicken breasts with skin, de-boned, about 8 ounces each

1 pound grape or cherry tomatoes
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup fresh cilantro sprigs
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt

Sauce:
1/2 cup whole milk Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Prepare:
1.  Whisk the marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Transfer 1 tablespoon of the marinade to another bowl and set aside for the sauce.
2.  Place chicken in a rimmed baking dish. Rub all over and between skin and meat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
3.  Prepare the grill for direct and indirect cooking over medium heat.
4.  Heat the oil in a large cast iron skillet over indirect medium heat. Add the tomatoes and cook until they just begin to break down and release their juices, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, chickpeas, cilantro, cumin, red pepper flakes and salt. Cook until the tomatoes collapse and the sauce thickens, about 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. While the tomatoes cook, remove the chicken from the marinade and discard the marinade. Grill the chicken, skin side down, over direct medium heat, until cooked through, turning once. Remove from heat.
6. Whisk the reserved marinade with 1/2 cup yogurt and fresh cilantro.
7. Cut the chicken breasts in half crosswise. Nestle into the skillet with the tomatoes and chickpeas. Serve with the yogurt sauce.

This dish and its many iterations I’ve enjoyed making is originally inspired by a recipe from Bon Appetit.