Chicken Ratatouille with Giant Couscous

Here is a hearty dish which is super healthy and comforting for a chilly autumn evening. The great thing about this recipe is that you can reheat it the next day, so go ahead and make up extra portions to save time cooking the following evening.

This is the first dish that I have ever accompanied with wholewheat giant couscous. I thought it went excellently with my chicken ratatouille but I appreciate it may be hard to get hold of, so feel free to substitute for rice or quinoa.

My tip for achieving tender chicken baked in the oven is by wrapping it in foil. Lets face it, nobody likes rubbery chicken! This allows the olive oil to remain intact with the chicken and leaves you with a juicy, soft cooked chicken breast. Top it off with the rosemary infused tomato juices and it's a winner winner chicken dinner!

Ingredients:

(Serves 2)

- 2 skinless chicken breasts

- 1 courgette

- handful of olives

- 1 can of chopped tomatoes

- 1 red onion

- handful of pine nuts

- 1 tbsp caster sugar

- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

- small bunch of rosemary

- 1 garlic clove

- oil for frying (I used rapeseed oil)

- chicken stock

- salt and pepper

- giant wholewheat couscous

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180C.

2. Drizzle some olive oil over your chicken and salt and pepper them. Then wrap each chicken breast in silver foil and place them on a baking tray in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until cooked.

3. In the meantime, half the olives, chop the red onion, courgettes, garlic and rosemary.

4. Heat some oil in a pan and fry the garlic rosemary and onion over a medium heat. Add the courgettes after 2 minutes and continue to fry for about 5 minutes until it has softened.

5. Add the chopped tomatoes, olives, balsamic vinegar and caster sugar and allow this to simmer - stir occasionally.

6. Begin to cook the couscous by boiling it in chicken stock for about 6-8 minutes (or according to packet instructions).

7. Once the chicken is cooked through and the couscous has boiled it's time to plate up. Layer your couscous in a bowl, slice your chicken and lay this over the couscous then spoon on the ratatouille. Add any extra greens if you want - here I have added some tender stem broccoli.

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