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Cravings & Comfort

A plate featuring marinated honey Mediterranean jerk chicken served on warm naan bread, topped with creamy tzatziki sauce and crumbled feta cheese. On the side are several golden-brown falafel balls, all presented on a rustic gray plate with a subtle yellow rim.
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Honey Jerk Mediterranean Chicken

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I have a Mediterranean chicken recipe for a marinade, but in all honesty, I kind of got bored of it. Like it tastes pretty good, but I wanted something new, and something I’ve never tried before.

I just started eyeballing my honey bottle, and realized my Mediterranean marinade kind of looked like Jerk sauce, so I got my jerk sauce bottle from my refrigerator, and had an idea to combine the two!

Falafel is also in this recipe, and that will be included as well. The main things I didn’t make are the tzatziki, or the naan bread. Not because I don’t know how to, but my patience is low sometimes… ESPECIALLY during dinner time cause I haven’t eaten a meal all day…

Macronutrients:

1 Serving of Chicken + Naan + Toppings:

  • Calories: 430~ 500
    • By 1 serving, I mean 1 piece of naan, chicken, and toppings. Naan can really sway the amount of calories in this dish. The calories of my naan bread was 170
  • Protein: 25 ~ 40 grams
    • Size of your chicken will mainly determine this number
  • Fat: 10 ~ 15 grams
    • Cooking method really determines this number. Unless you use a reduced fat feta cheese, it’s kind of hard to change this number
  • Carbs: 20 ~ 40 grams
    • Heavily dependent from the carbs of your naan

1 Serving of Falafel (5 pieces)

  • Calories: 200 ~ 400
  • Protein: 10 ~ 15 grams
  • Fat: 15 ~ 20 grams
  • Carbs: 25 ~ 28 grams

Estimated Time (Excluding Marinade):

20-30 minutes

Ingredients:

Falafel

  • 3/4 cup of Dry Chickpeas
  • 1/4 cup Dried Fava Beans
  • 3 tsp Baking Soda
  • 2 tbsp Cornstarch
  • Parsley
  • Cilantro
  • 1 Chopped Yellow Onion
  • 1 tbsp Ground Cardamon
  • 1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
  • 1/2 tsp Cayenne (adjust to taste)
  • 2 tbsp chickpea flour
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Chicken

  • 1 Diced Chicken Breast (or Thigh)
  • 1/3 cup Jerk Chicken Marinade
  • 1 tbsp Dried Rosemary
  • 2 tbsp Dried Sage
  • 1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar or Red Wine Vinegar
  • 2 tbsp Granulated Sugar
  • 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 2 tbsp Minced Garlic
  • 3 tbsp Honey
  • Salt

Tips:

  • This recipe involves deep frying, and grilling!
  • When it comes to making the falafel, make sure that you ring out all of the moisture, and are pretty sure they bind together quite well.
    • You don’t need to squeeze out all of the water after you chop it, but it should be able to hold their shape on their own. The worst thing about falafel is it breaking when deep frying, and I’ve had this happen to me one too many times…
  • Don’t used canned chickpeas. They just… don’t turn out well…
  • Paper towels are a fine alternative, but it’s best to let the falafel rest and drain on a wire rack after frying.
  • For the chicken, it’s best to marinate it in the morning instead of leaving it overnight. Since we added an acidic component (red wine vinegar), it could breakdown the chicken more and create a mushy texture. Also, it’s better to use Balsamic Vinegar over Red Wine for taste in my opinion.

Steps:

Falafel

  • Step 1: Soak your dried chickpeas and favas with at least 3 inches of water above the beans. Add in 1 tsp of baking soda, and be sure to leave them overnight.
    • Don’t soak them in the refrigerator, and be sure to change the water once.
  • Step 2: After soaking, drain them thoroughly and spread on a towel for 10 minutes. Excess surface moisture prevents a soggy mixture.
  • Step 3: In a food processor, add in your beans, parsley, cilantro, chopped onion, seasonings, salt and pepper to taste, cornstarch, and add the remaining baking soda. Pulse your food in 1 second bursts, and aim for a texture that’s like coarse sand. NOT a paste.
  • Step 4: Let the mixture sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes in the fridge.
  • Step 5: Form uniform balls of the mixture and fry in 350°F oil. Cook in batches, and don’t overcrowd the fryer. Drain for around a couple of minutes, and serve.

Chicken

  • Step 1: In a bowl, add in your diced chicken, jerk sauce, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, seasonings, garlic, and sugar. Mix well and make sure every piece of the chicken is coated, and marinate in the refrigerator.
  • Step 2: Grill the chicken in batches. Afterwards, add your preferred toppings (feta cheese, sauce, etc.) and with naan bread.
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