Lemon Chicken Ricotta Bowl
Lemon-marinated chicken over ricotta and rice.
Bright, punchy, ready before you can be arsed ordering takeaway. Seared chicken over warm rice, cool cucumber and tomato, a soft pile of lemon-loosened ricotta, then a proper drizzle of olive oil and lemon to tie it all together. High protein, gentle on the wallet, big on flavour.
Nutrition · per serving
Method
- 1
Dry brine and dry off
Pat the chicken bone-dry with kitchen paper, then hit both sides with the sea salt. Leave it on a plate while the pan heats — even a couple of minutes helps the surface dry out so you get colour instead of steam. No pepper yet, pepper hates a hot dry pan and turns bitter on you.
- 2
Sear it properly
Get the pan to medium-high heat, add oil, and lay the chicken away from you. Do not fiddle. Cook until deep golden on both sides, then transfer to a 180°C oven and cook until the internal temperature reaches 75°C. Temperature matters more th pan time.
- 3
Rest, do not skip
Off the heat, rest the chicken 3 minutes on a board. Cut too early and the juice ends up on the chopping board instead of in the bowl — you paid for that juice, keep it.
- 4
Build the cold side
While it rests: warm the rice, dice the cucumber and tomato, and loosen the ricotta with half the lemon juice and a pinch of salt so it spoons out soft instead of chalky. Give the tomato a tiny pinch of salt too — brings it to life even if it came straight out the fridge.
- 5
Plate and finish
Rice down first, then chicken sliced across the grain, ricotta in the middle, cucumber and tomato either side. Drizzle the extra-virgin olive oil and the rest of the lemon juice over the lot. NOW the pepper — cracked fresh over the top, where you'll actually taste it. Taste before you add any more salt.