Hi guys , hope you're well. Ok, I'm going to do a nice little dish, this is a classic Oliver household mid-week dinner or lunch
Chicken Lollipops
with charred asparagus, mint and pea couscous and a beautiful sun-dried tomato sauce, it's really quick
it's really nutritious, it's from my brand new book Super Food Family Classics
And it's a really lovely dish, I think you're going to love it
I'm going to do it all in one pan, quality non stick large pan
Put that on a high heat
With the asparagus, let it naturally snap
there's nothing wrong with this, it's just a bit stringy and chewy OK
There's no fat, theres no olive oil
With asparagus if you dry grill it or dry toast it a non stick frying pan like this
you get really amazing nutty asparagus flavours that you would never get through steaming or boiling
So, couscous, this is wholewheat couscous, so your'e absolutely having loads more fibre
These are fresh peas, you could use frozen as well
A pinch of salt goes in, you can put some pepper in as well
I'm also going to use lemon, get yourself a nice little fine grater like this OK
It's just the yellow part of the zest going in
and that's the oily fragrant delicious part
So we've got very simple but lovely flavours happening there, I've boiled a kettle
and I'm simply going to cover that
couscous is already cooked, you just need to re-hydrate it
and it takes like 5/6 minutes
I'm going to put my plates on top, pea's and couscous essentially are done.
Were using lovely free-range chicken breast
you'll notice there's a thin side and a thick side
Were just equaling out the thickness as well as tenderising it
and it means that it's all going to cook at an even rate
So just 3 or 4 scewers, you want them to be cut down so they fit inside your pan ok
I want to create little lollipops
So I'm just going to wash my hands, these asparagus are pretty much done
They're still kind of, they've got life in them but we've sort of made them a little bit softer
I'm going to start to cook the chicken, I'm going to season that with a little salt and pepper
And a drizzle of oil. So the asparagus here
goes onto the plate, so you can tell
they're hot and steamy and gorgeous, the chicken is in the pan, what were getting there is really nice crisp finish
I'll turn this other chicken over
If you apply something flat like this, then lets say like a little pestle and mortar
it's quite a nice little tip and I'll tell you why, it really compresses the meat. So you have perfect contact with surface area
and it helps to cook it quicker, and gives you a crispier crust
I'm going to pick through some mint to chop
right, so this is to chop through my couscous
so the tips, I'm putting to one side, I'm just going to sprinkle those on top.
Chai flowers, look how beautiful they are, and they have the most beautiful
subtle, onion flavour, whatever herbs you got available you can kind of run with it
I'll chop through that
There's our chicken lollipops, notice that you've got the kind of seared colour on the outside, I'm going to put that on top of the asparagus. Why? Because it's going to rest now right
Chuff up all of this, look hot and steamy, were going to lift all those flavours with these wonderful, wonderful herbs ok
mix that up, I want a little bit of tartness
happening here, squeeze the juice in this bad boy
That's about a quarter of a lemon, I've put that through the couscous just to give it an edge
I want to show you how to make a quick sauce
a couple of tablespoons, beautiful organic yoghurt
I'm going to use some sun-dried tomato paste, one teaspoon
give or take
I'm going to put some lemon juice in here guys, let's call it a quarter and just a little pinch of salt for seasoning and you've got a really simple delicious sauce
Let's plate up, so were going in with the couscous first, I'm then going to go in with the asparagus here
and then lets go and have a little look at our chicken over here
This is a nice clean board
And what I'm going to do is get my chopper, and just put it in between the scewers
The kids just love that, look, lets have a little look, juiciness, not overcooked
loads of character, and we've got a little wedge of lemon
sun-dried tomato sauce
Herbs, and the only thing I forgot was my nuts, and I'm always forgetting my nuts
So, you have to use your imagination in this one, they are much nicer when they're toasted, but I'm going to sprinkle these over my lovely dish
Boom, Chicken Lollipops, Super Food styli.
Check out my new book Super Food Family Classics, beautiful, really really delcious cooking