In The Kitchen

Grilled chicken thighs with Serbian salad

Juicy chicken thighs, grilled to perfection, with a Serbian summer garden salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, onion and feta

Aleks Till
Updated: September 14, 2024 - 10:22 am
Grilled chicken thigh with Serbian salad / Photo by Till

This is a summertime classic at my parents house. Juicy chicken thighs, grilled to perfection, with a Serbian summer garden salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, onion and feta.

Grilled Chicken

  • 3/4 pounds bone-in chicken thighs
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

Serbian Salad

  • 1/2 pound tomatoes (about 1 large)
  • 1/2 pound cucumber (1 medium)
  • 1 small mild pepper
  • 1 spring onion, 1 shallot, or 3 green onions
  • 2 tablespoons feta crumbles
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • Vinegar (optional)

Crusty bread, for serving

Butter or cream cheese, for the bread

Directions

  • Cook the chicken. Lightly oil the thighs and season with salt and pepper.

GRILL > Preheat grill to high. When hot, add the thighs and sear for a couple minutes on each side. Reduce heat to medium, and grill until cooked all the way through, turning every couple minutes.

STOVE > Heat a thin layer of oil in a skillet over medium high heat. When shimmering, add the thighs and sear on both sides, then reduce heat to medium and continue to cook, turning frequently, until they are completely cooked through.

  • Make the salad. Toss everything, along with the feta, olive oil and a dash of vinegar, in a salad bowl. Season liberally with salt and black pepper.
    • Cucumbers > Trim off the tips. If your cucumbers are thick, halve or quarter them lengthwise, then slice into chunks .
    • Tomato > Slice into wedges or dice.
    • Pepper > Trim stem and remove seeds, then dice.
    • Onion > Trim ends, then slice all of it thinly.
  • Serve. Heap up your plate with food — especially the salad — and eat with torn or sliced bread.

Total Time: 45 minutes

Nutrition per serving:    

  • 606 calories
  • 36g fat
  • 35g carbs
  • 34g protein
  • 4g fiber

Notes

  • I never see any mention of this, but this salad is really a Balkan garden salad. Every Serb I know — if they have a garden — grows tomatoes, cukes, peppers, and spring onions. This salad is synonymous with summer, served at every meal with freshly-picked-from-the-garden produce.
  • If I could get you kajmak for the bread, I would! We usually just butter it, but kajmak is like a rich cream cheese that is greedily gobbled up if it is on the table for offering! Because it is unpasteurized and unhomogenized, it isn’t produced here in the United States. Or, if it is, it just isn’t the same — you gotta know a farmer!

Aleks Till is the owner of Homegrown Foods. Homegrown Foods is a local, woman-owned business serving the Twin Cities area for over 10 years. Specializing in delivering meal kits using organic ingredients, grown by local farmers.