We have been eating a lot of Vietnamese Chicken Rice Bowls lately and it gave us inspiration to create a Turkish version. We love that once you have all the elements prepped you can easily keep them in the fridge and have it for lunches and dinners throughout the week just by plating it all together.
All of the elements compliment each other beautifully, the bulgur is light and fluffy, the cabbage adds a crunch, the tomato salad adds sweetness combined with the creamy yoghurt and the sharp and spicy pickled chillies and Turkish Chilli Sauce makes for the perfect dish. Everything you could want in one bowl and even better - it's delicious, nutritious, packed with protein and has plenty of your 5 a day!
We use our Bulgur Wheat Recipe for this rice bowl but if you prefer then you can use our Turkish Rice Recipe instead. We also use chicken thighs for this recipe and oven bake them - you can use chicken breast but we would pan fry instead as they can become very dry otherwise.
You can prep all of the elements ahead of time and store them in tupperware in the fridge - just do not dress the tomato and onions or the cabbage until you are going to serve it so that it doesn't become soggy.
Serves 4
Ingredients
For the Bulgur & Chicken
- 1 batch of our Bulgur Wheat
- 8 Chicken Thighs, diced into bite size pieces
- 4 heaped tsp Chicken Shish Marinade
- 1 tbsp Pomegranate Molasses
For the Pickled Red Onions
- 2 small Red Onions, finely sliced
- 230ml Apple Cider Vinegar
- 100ml Water
- 30g Sugar
- 1tsp Salt
For the Tomato & Onion Salad
- 3 Vine Tomatoes, diced
- 1 Red Onion, thinly sliced
- 1 small bunch Parsley, chopped
- 2 tbsp Turkish Salad Dressing
For the Red Cabbage
- 1/2 Red Cabbage, very thinly sliced (we use the grate to slice it)
- 2 tbsp Cider Vinegar
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
To Serve
- 4 tbsp thick and creamy Yoghurt
- 12 Pickled Chilli Peppers (we like the bodrum brand)
- 4tsp Turkish Chilli Sauce
Cooking Instructions
- You can make all of the separate elements of the dish ahead of time so we will start with making all of the toppings.
- For the Pickled Red Onions -in a small pan add the vinegar, water, sugar and salt. Cook over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves and it begins to simmer. Place the onions inside a jar with a lid, pour over the pickling juice, screw on the lid and give it a good shake. Place in the fridge at least 2 hours or until ready to use. The onions should start to turn paler and pink - these will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks.
- For the Tomato & Onion salad - place all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix. Only add the Turkish Salad Dressing just before you are serving.
- For the Red Cabbage - make the vinegar dressing and pour over the cabbage no more than 1-2 hours before serving.
- For the Bulgur Wheat Rice - follow this recipe - this can be prepared ahead of time and kept in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can serve it either hot or cold, we tend to have it room temperature but its your preference.
- For the Chicken - place the diced chicken thighs into a bowl and massage in the Chicken Shish Marinade. Skewer the chicken pieces on to metal skewers leaving around 1-2inches at the top and bottom of the skewers.
- Preheat the oven to 200c. Line a roasting tin with parchment paper to catch the juices. Position the skewers length ways across the roasting tin so that the chicken is not touching the bottom.
- Place in the oven for 10mins or until they begin to look golden. Remove from the oven and turn each of the skewers. Drizzle the pomegranate molasses over the skewers and place back in the oven for another 10-15mins.
- Once the chicken has started to char at the edge, remove from the oven. The pomegranate molasses would have given the chicken a slightly sticky texture. You will see juices on the bottom of the roasting tin, drizzle these over the chicken.
- Now it is time to assemble: add the bulgur wheat to the bottom of the bowl and then place each of the toppings on top of the bulgur like a clock. Add the dollop of yoghurt, scatter some pickled chillies and drizzle the Turkish Chilli Sauce. Enjoy!