What's for dinner? - Southern Fried Chicken with Roasted Red pepper and Chili cous cous

This dish was quite quick to prepare as for those of you who have cooked cous cous before will know it tajes no length at all.

200g cous cous

Pinch of salt

Pinch of pepper

1 Red Pepper

1 Red chili

Fresh herbs - basil, mint, coriander

Zest of 1 lemon

Zest of 1 lime

Method:

1. I began by pre-heating my oven for the chicken gas mark 6/ 200 degrees and I'm using a southern fried chicken breast from my local butcher but a frozen one from the supermarket will be fine.
2. I have a gas cooker I don't know about you but the quickest was I find to roasting peppers is on the hob just turn on a ring and let the gas cook the pepper directly it doesn't soften as it would in the oven and you could put it in with the chicken but I want the smokey taste but I want the pepper to have a bite - it's up to you.
3. Cook the cous cous I find the best way is add the dried cous cous to a large bowl then just covering it with boiling water and covering with cling film.
4. When it's cooked just uncover and gently fork in a small amount of butter to loosen the cous cous
5. Add the remaining ingredients to a bowl and mix when the pepper is ready add this and the mixture to the cous cous and mix well 
6. When the chicken is almost cooked 
7. Put the cous cous on a baking tray and drizzle with a little olive oil and just cook gently in the oven just to heat it through
8. Chop the chicken and assemble the dish
9. Garnish with fresh herbs and enjoy!

What's For Dinner? - Chili Con Carne

I love making this dish, it is great if you have no time at all, it can be made the night before and to be honest it has more intense flavours if it is made in advance. You can edit the spices in it to make it hotter or milder, you can serve this with just boiled or steamed rice or with some cous-cous. As it is a night before dish it means you could bring this for your lunch, if you didn't have lunch facilities or if you want something more substantial. Serves 6

Chili Con Carne

1 Green Pepper

1 Red Pepper

3 Chillies

1 Red Onion

4lb Lean Steak Mince

1 Tin Of Red Kidney Beans

1 Tin Of Tomato Puree

1 Tin Of Chopped Tomatoes

Cumin (Ground)

Chilli Powder

Cayenne Powder

Basil

Oregano

Crushed Jalapenos (Optional)

Crushed Chillies (Optional)

Seasoning

Method:

1. Dice the peppers and the onions and fry off in a large deep pan, when they are softened add the mince and cook throughout.
2. Add the chillies (diced, de-seeded, cut carefully!!!) add the palm-ful of cumin, chilli powder, a pinch of cayenne, palmful of basil and oregano.
3. Add the tin of tomatoes and the tomato puree, the kidney beans and allow to cook for 40 minutes at a medium temperature.
4. Allow to marinade over-night, and serve with warm tortillas and a fresh leafy salad.

Cous-Cous

Cous-cous:

This dish is really fast to make, in the time the cous cous cooks you would have all of the vegetables prepped and then all you have to do is put it all together. This is a great side dish for chicken tagine or on it's own for a vegetarian option or a nice addition to a salad. I just love it, it is so refreshing and full of flavour. I'm not going to put a serving value on this or ingredient amount as it varies to the amount of people who are eating or what the purpose of the dish is.

Cous-cous

Hot water

Red peppers

Red chili

Carrot

Green beans

Mangetout

Ginger

Salt and pepper

Fresh Coriander

Fresh Basil

Lemon zest and juice

Lime zest and juice 

Method:

1. Cook the cous cous following the directions provided on the box/packet
2. Prep the vegetables; thinly slice the chillies, finely chop the peppers, slice the carrots, green beans and mangetout combine all of the ingredients in a bowl.
3. Add the lemon and lime juice and zest, the grated ginger and season
4. Add the cooked cous cous.
5. Add some roughly chopped herbs and you're done!

*sometimes I roast my peppers of I have time it adds a nice flavour to the dish.

What's for Dinner? - Chicken Tagine

I made this while I was making another dinner, the Tagine is so much nicer if you make it the day before, and any leftovers can be perfect for lunch. With this dish you could serve cous-cous or steamed/boiled rice. This serves 6.

6 Chicken Fillets
Tagine Spice Mix
1 Red/Green Pepper
1 White Onion
1 Tin of Tomato Puree
Salt and Pepper
Pinch of Suagr
1 Tin of Tomatoes (With Chili)
1 Tin of Tomatoes (Plain)

Tagine Spice Mix: Equal quantities of each approx 3 Tbsp

1. Cumin 
2. Turmeric
3. Paprika
4. Chili Powder

Method:

1. Add some of the spice mix to the Chicken and allow to marinate for an hour or two.
2. Cut the peppers and onions and gently saute on a gentle heat, add some of the spice mix and set aside.
3. When the chicken has been marinated, cook on a high pre-heated grill pan (no oil) and seal on both sides about 3 minutes on each side. The chicken will fully cook in the sauce so don't worry if the chicken is still pink.
4. Add the chicken to the vegetables and add the tins of tomatoes and season with salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar.
5. Allow to cook on a gentle heat for 30 minutes, add the tomato puree and some fresh coriander if you have it.