Chermoula Roasted Chicken, Tomato, Avocado And Cucumber Salsa Wraps

I have wanted to try my hands on cooking Mexican or even Tex-Mex food at home for a while now. When I finally got my acts together to do my research and found a recipe suitable for a first timer like me, the specialty shop was closed when I arrived with my list of ingredients. 

Thankfully the supermarket is a stone's throw away from the specialty shop and I managed to come out with a Mediterranean version of my planned tacos meal. 

This completely revised meal is now a tummies' favourite whenever we want to get away from rice and pasta. Mexican food is still on the pipeline and if you know of any good Mexican cookbook do let me know, thank you.

recipe from the tummies' kitchen
serves 4 as a one dish meal
you'll need;
1 free range chicken, butterflied
5 tbs of chermoula for marinade
8 to 10 shop bought tortillas or other flat breads
200 g of baby cos lettuce leaves
2 tbs of extra chermoula

for the salsa;
2 large tomatoes, diced
1 continental/telegraph cucumber, diced
1 avocado, diced
1 spanish onion, finely diced
2 tbs of chopped coriander leaves
2 tbs of chopped mint leaves
4 tbs of olive oil
juice from half a lemon
salt and pepper to taste

To butterfly or spatchcock the chicken - remove the backbones of the chicken using a pair of kitchen scissor then flatten it slightly with both the palms of your hands. Use 5 tbs of the chermoula to marinate the chicken for at least an hour in the fridge.

Heat up an oven tray and lightly brown the chicken on both sides (2 -3 minutes/side) then roast it in the preheated oven for ~45 to 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool down.

While waiting for the chicken to cool down, prepare the salsa by combining all the ingredients in a large bowl, check for seasonings and set aside.

When the chicken is cool enough to handle drain off most of the accumulating oil in the oven tray and shred the meat from the carcass, reserving the bones for your stock pot. Return the shredded chicken to the tray and mix it with the remaining delicious sticky bits and cooking juices and the extra 2 tbs of chermoula.

Place a tortilla or flat bread on the workbench, place some lettuce over then top with some of the shredded chicken and salsa.

They can be rolled up and eaten as they are or lightly grill on a hot plate which is how we like it.

Halve wraps at an angle and serve it with a little more salsa on the side.