Sometimes it doesn’t really matter what you come up with for a dinner as long as it’s a quick pretty healthy and a tasty dish. This will tick all the boxes for me!
Coming from work after a whole day of running around or standing all you’d need is ….. a takeaway ? you’d say but I’d just quickly say, well…. think twice, I’d just open the fridge instead, I’d see what’s in there and I’d give it a quick go. It is amazing what you could quickly put together. You could come up with a healhy meal like this curried chicken dish, it is so yummy.
Even if the chicken breast hasn’t been taken out of the freezer because it’s a sudden and pretty instant decision don’t panic. I do this many times. Take it out there and then and do a quick thawing or simply leave it out for 15-20 min. It will beome pretty easy to cut it and cook with it straight away.
In fact chicken isn’t even recommended to thaw slowly as that might even mean food poisoning.
I usually parcel my chicken with the amount of meat I know I need to cook at once, I then take it out of the freezer and submerge it in a bigger pot filled with cold water for a few minutes while I do other preparations such as wash and chop the vegetables and so on. By the time all the preps are done, the meat will be thawed sufficiently to cut it into desired strips or even smaller cubes just as this recipe calls for.
So here you have it, yet another pretty quick and fuss free recipe.
Here it comes!
Curried chicken and beans couscous
Ingredients
- 500 g chicken breast
- 200 g couscous (wholemeal)
- 300 g green beans
- 1/2 head cauliflower (sliced into tiny florets)
- 1 onion
- 1/2 small leek
- 150 g cherry tomatoes
- 10 springs parsley (fresh, finely chopped) or corriander
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 pinch mixed seeds (cumin, fennel, mustard, fenugreek)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp coconut oil
- 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
Instructions
- You could start by preparing the couscous first according to pack instructions but this is how I normally prepare it. I normally place it in a bowl and mix the dry couscous with a pinch of salt and pepper, sometimes 1 tsp of Italian herbs and pour boiling water over about 2 cm above the couscous level and cover immediately with a lid or a plate. I allow it to rest for 20-25 minutes or so without touching or uncovering it. This way will soak and get ready beautifully.
- Choose a deeper frying pan and add the coconut oil along with your chopped and possibly half frozen 😉 chicken. Add some salt and cook for 2 minutes until the meat gets a cooked coat on the outside. Add the roughly chopped onion, the seeds and half of the garlic along with the green beans which should be broken into chunky pieces (approx 1 in or 2 cm long). Cook covered for 5-7 min.
- Add the curry powder and mix well followed by the cauliflower florets, leek and the cherry tomatoes. Allow to cook either covered or uncovered for an extra 5-7 min.
- In the last minute of cooking stir in the remaining of the garlic. Take off the heat and add the chopped parsley or coriander.
- Add the fluffy couscous and mix well.
- Serve hot and if you have any left over, the next day lunch could also be sorted as it's still delicious! ????
Notes
If you would like your onion less cooked, add it a little later.
Replace the curry powder by any flavour powder you wish such as cajun, paprika and so on. Check your cupboards and see what you can set your hands on.
Try any exotic combination and try adding some coconut milk if you fancy but that should be added at the beginning of the cooking as the meat and the vegetables should hardly have any running juices otherwise the meal will become soggy and I personally do not like it that way.
When it comes to the vegetables you will be using, just go for what you like and you can have mushrooms, peas, carrot, peppers, asparagus, pumpkin, butternut squash or any other veggies that you may like or you may feel you want to try and get a little adventurous with.
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