Spicy Chicken Hummus Bowls

Two square-shaped ceramic bowls, one small on the left and one large on the right, sitting outside on glass table. The small bowl on the left contains a visible mixture of roasted red onion, Japanese sweet potato, and cucumber. The large bowl on the left contains a visible mixture of red onion, cucumber, and ~1 inch pieces of baked chicken covered in a spice mixture. The ends of the chicken appear to be slightly charred, as if the chicken was in the oven just long enough to fully bake without burning. In the small bowl, the vegetables are mixed together with the cucumber sitting atop the dish. In the large bowl, there chicken forms a layer that almost completely obscures the vegetables, except for the cucumber which is once again sitting atop the dish. Next to both dishes there is a small round ceramic bowl containing several dolma.

2 servings | gluten-free

This flavorful recipe packs hummus, roasted veggies, and spicy chicken into a fantastic shareable savory meal. This is a really great option if you want to impress your friends with a delicious Mediterranean dinner while not actually doing anything too complicated.

Ingredients

1 red onion, slivered
2-3 large heirloom carrots, sliced in half lengthwise
1 eggplant, sliced
1 large cucumber, sliced followed by cutting each slice into 6 small pieces
6-8 cloves of garlic, mashed in a garlic press
1/2 fresh lemon, squeezed for juice
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
olive oil
salt
pepper
1 cup hummus
1 lb chicken breast, cut into 1 inch cubes
fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

Prepare the red onion, heirloom carrots, and eggplant. Toss them in olive oil, salt, and pepper on baking sheets, and bake in an oven at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour. You will want the onion and eggplant on one sheet and the heirloom carrots on another sheet, as the carrots will take longer to fully bake.
Toss the chicken in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, with the cumin, paprika, cayenne, and 1/8 teaspoon of salt. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes, then spread the chicken out on a baking sheet lined with foil.
When there are only a few minutes remaining for the veggies in the oven, set the broiler to high and broil the chicken for 10 minutes, or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked. Take the chicken out of the oven and let it rest for 5 minutes on the baking sheet.
While the chicken is resting, divide the hummus into two ceramic soup bowls (dinner for two) or a large single ceramic bowl (shareable). Coat the bottom of the bowl(s) so that there is an even base layer of hummus in each. Place the bowl(s) in the oven to warm up while you finish preparing the chicken. The idea here is to build up layers of warm ingredients where juices from the upper layers sink down into the lower layers, with the hummus absorbing everything at the bottom.
Whisk the mashed garlic paste and 1/8 teaspoon of salt with the squeezed lemon juice together in a bowl. Add the chicken, toss, and let sit for 5 minutes.
Build the layers of the dish with the heirloom carrots, baked eggplant slices & red onion, chicken, and finally sliced cucumber. Optionally garnish with chopped fresh parsley.

Variations

Spicy Sweet Potato Vegetarian Hummus Bowls

For a vegetarian option, replace the 1 lb of chicken with a couple of sweet potatoes. Cover the sweet potatoes in the same cumin, paprika, cayenne mixture used for the chicken, but bake them alongside the other vegetables in the oven in step 1 of the recipe. Toss the sweet potatoes in the same lemon garlic mixture in step 5, but be careful as tender baked sweet potatoes will be mushier than chicken. In the recipe reference photo, the small bowl on the left contains this sweet potato variation.