RECIPE: Garlic, honey and cinnamon couscous with chicken, broccoli, almonds and sultanas.

Ooh this is a goodie!

I wasn’t originally going to blog this recipe (hence the lack of good pictures, sorry) as I hadn’t actually made that many changes to the recipe upon which I was basing my delicious concoction (from ‘Healthy Eating with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’, a free supplement in The Telegraph whoop!)

But then I ate it. And it was too good not to share. Not to mention quite different as far as couscous recipes go.

The mix of sweet and savoury flavours is simply a marriage made in heaven, if you ask me: honey, cinnamon and sultanas battle it out with garlic, chicken and broccoli, and it all creates a bit of a POW-OMG-WOW sensation for the ole tastebuds.

The pictures really don't do it justice...

Y’all know I’m a sugar fiend, and that applies to my savoury dishes too. Ooh how I love a coconutty chicken curry! I’m also a total broccoli addict. I eat it with everything: curries, spag bol, and both alongside and on top of pizza. To be fair, there are worse addictions to have, am I right?

It’s crucial to toast the flaked almonds first as it gives them a wonderful slightly smokey flavour and a good ole crunch which contrasts delightfully with the soft, fluffy couscous and plump, juicy sultanas.

Leftover scraps of roast chicken? This is a super way of using them up. It doesn’t really matter how your chicken has been cooked, but mine was a leftover chicken breast simply smothered in red pepper and aubergine pesto (my new fave thing) and roasted for dinner the day before. Shredded up, it works perfectly in this couscous.

This serves either one reeeaaally hungry person, or one averagely hungry (or weightwatching!) person with some leftover for lunch the next day. Delicious both hot and cold, it’s full of healthy goodness and fabulous flavour. It’s also wonderfully portable, so great for popping in a Tupperware and taking to work or wherever else your day may take you.

Let's face it: if a recipe starts with frying onion and garlic, you just know it's going to be good. Oh, and it’s super simple, hoorah!

Mixing it all together in the pan.

Ingredients

A handful flaked almonds
1 tbsp oil (I used rapeseed)
½ an onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
½ tsp ground cinnamon
40g couscous
A handful sultanas (or other dried fruit of your choice)
125ml chicken stock
½ tbsp honey
1 handful broccoli, in florets
1 pre-cooked chicken breast (or a handful of roast chicken bits), cut/torn into little pieces


Method

1. Put the almonds in a small dry saucepan and toast over a medium heat for a few minutes, tossing occasionally to make sure they don’t stick to the bottom, until golden brown. Remove from the pan and leave to cool.

2. Heat the oil in the same small saucepan, add the onion, garlic and some salt and pepper and sweat gently for about 10 minutes, until softened and turning brown. Add the cinnamon, then take off the heat and stir in the couscous and sultanas.

3. Stir the honey into the stock until dissolved, then pour over the couscous (it should just cover it) and put a tight-fitting lid on the pan. Leave for 10 minutes, until the couscous has swollen up and absorbed all the liquid.

4. In the meantime, steam or boil your broccoli florets, and once tender, drain and cut into little pieces.

5. Fluff up the couscous with a fork, and then add the chicken pieces, almonds, and broccoli to the pan. Mix it all together before dishing up a big plateful of comforting yum for one.