Sticky Glazed Chicken and Couscous
from Emily (who loves food)
This is so quick, and so easy. Actually. It’s finished in the time it takes to cook a couple of pieces of chicken.
This was mine and Tom’s dinner tonught – it’s got all the flavors I really love, and is super duper healthy (though it actually tastes pretty indulgent). Plus, it’s honestly done in 15 mins. Chop the onion, chop the chicken, chop the tomatoes. Cook em for 7 mins. While that’s sizzling away, cook the couscous in 5 mins. Done. Dusted. Dinner sorted.
I’ve been eating it a bit lately – this quick meal was exactly what I needed after an 8 hour shift in the midst of a boxing-day-turned-new-years sale. Because I’ve got a bunch of stuff to buy at the end of this month (this month being January) I’ve been working off the hook, and am now pretty sick and tired of my bottom-of-the-food chain retail job. New year, new job perhaps? I certainly wouldn’t say no to a new set of walls to look at. Come may I will have been in my current role for a year, which is probably an appropriate length of time to pack up my work pants, drink bottle and name badge and high-tail it out of there.
Which all sounds good in theory.
I suppose my new years blog post should be something a little more dramatic than cheap and cheerful chicken, but as we had just been to the beach, the sun was shining and I was still tired from New Years eve, I couldn’t justify a massive palava. Plus, this recipe isn’t something to be sneezed at. Six ingredients and fifteen minutes and pretty wow-worthy flavour is a perfectly good way to see in two thousand and thirteen.
So happy new years, everyone. Hopefully EmilyLovesFood will keep growing over 2013 (though, in the six months she’s been running, we find ourselves just shy of 100,000 views).
So far though, we’re off to a good start. For as long the sun keeps shining past eight pm, I’m quite content.
Sticky Glazed Chicken and Couscous – Serves 2
Prep time: <5mins Cook time: 8-10mins
- 2/3 cup dry couscous
- 3 boneless, skinless chicken thigh fillets, sliced thinly
- 1/2 small red onion, diced
- 8 or so sundried tomatoes, chopped
- handful of spinach
- 6 tbs red wine vinegar
- 4 tsp brown sugar
- cooking spray
Spray a small skillet or frypan over a medium-high heat with cooking spray.
Add the onion, cook for 1 min, stirring until slightly browned. Add the chicken, and cook for about 6-7 mins or until browned and mostly cooked.
Meanwhile, place the couscous in a heatproof bowl with a lid (or pot with a lid) and cover with boiling water. Don’t drown it, just cover it with water. Slap the lid on and let it sit for 5 mins, then uncover.
Back to the chicken: add the red wine vinegar and sugar, then throw in the tomatoes. The sugar and vinegar should reduce quickly into a sticky sauce. Cook for a further minute or two until the chicken is cooked through and tender, then add the spinach and give a couple of stirs to wilt it and glaze it with the sauce.
Serve the chicken mixture over the warm couscous.
Eat immediately.
We doubled this recipe for our little family, but it was quite vinagery. We added a splash of soy sauce to balance the flavor which helped tremendously!
Possibly the vinegar and sugar didn’t have enough time to reduce fully, considering the larger quantity. When it reduces to a syrup, it should be sticky and slightly sweet, with very little ‘tang’ from the vinegar. Admittedly, I haven’t doubled this recipe – perhaps, in future, cutting back on the vinegar to 10tbs (instead of 12) if you’re doubling the recipe would balance it out.
I’m not a huge fan of sundried tomatoes; is there anything else that you could recommend that would slot nicely into this recipe in place of the tomatoes?
Cherry tomatoes would be delicious if you threw them in at the very end – but if you’re not a tomato fan at all, chuck in some sliced bell pepper, halved button mushrooms or even cubed, just-tender pumpkin. (: