RECIPE: Use yogurt to take chicken from boring to bold

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are a great protein to use when you need to get dinner on the table in a hurry. The trouble is that these poultry cuts don’t have a lot of flavor on their own and can quickly overcook, becoming dry and tough. Marinades are an effective technique, but they perform best when time is not a factor. Enter yogurt, which, even as a simple coating, can make a big difference in a short time when cooking chicken fillets.

Marinades are typically comprised of fat, acid and seasoning. Yogurt contains all three. Lactic acid in yogurt breaks down the connective proteins and acidifies the muscle fiber which makes the meat juicier and more tender. At the surface level, yogurt makes a difference by acting as a buffer between the chicken breasts to direct heat and gives potentially tasteless fillets a flavor boost. (And, if you had time, you could pop these in the marinade to coat for up to 24 hours.)

Cooking with yogurt is a centuries-old technique, prevalent in Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern cuisines. In this recipe, we marry it with harissa, a hot chile paste used in Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian cuisines. Harissa is more than just fire and heat. Chiles are blended into a thick paste with pungent garlic, rich olive oil, and bold, aromatic spices such as cumin, caraway and coriander. It’s a powerful combination of aromas and flavor. Substitutes could include Asian chile paste or even hot sauce, but harissa is readily available at grocery stores.