This simple glaze to pour over chicken is my speedy version of a sort of barbecue sauce. It goes beautifully with this speedy sweet, spiced couscous. The spiced couscous also makes a great lunchbox meal so don’t worry if it looks like a lot!

Method:

• For the glaze for the chicken, heat half the light olive oil in a small saucepan over a medium heat, add the ginger and garlic and soften, stirring for a couple of minutes. Add the paprika and stir for a further minute, then add the water along with the tomato ketchup and honey. Bring to a simmer and leave to reduce for 5–7 minutes until it has a good coating consistency, then leave to cool for 10 minutes. Pour over the chicken and spring onions.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/425°F. Heat a roasting pan (for the chicken) at the same time. Spread the almonds for the couscous out on a baking tray and toast in the warming oven, keeping an eye on them as they can catch easily, then when they are light golden brown, remove and leave to cool.
• At the same time, heat a medium pan and dry fry the onion and all the spices over a medium heat for about 1 ½ minutes, shaking the pan occasionally. Add the stock and orange juice, if using, and the mint stalks. Bring up to a simmer.
• In a large bowl, season the couscous, glug over the olive oil and scatter with the dates. Toss the grains about and, when the stock is boiling, lift out the mint stalks and pour the stock over the couscous. Cover immediately with a plate or lid or kitchen foil and leave to expand for 15 minutes.
• When the oven reaches temperature, add the rest of the light olive oil (that you didn’t use in the glaze) to the hot roasting pan. Using tongs, lift the chicken thighs from the glaze and put into the hot pan, skin-side up, and cook for about 15 minutes (or 12 minutes, if using chicken breast) so that the skin becomes golden and crisp. Add the spring onions and spoon a bit more of the glaze over at this point, then cook for a further 15 minutes (or 5–8 minutes, if using chicken breast, for a total cooking time of around 20 minutes), or until the chicken is cooked through. The thighs may need 10 minutes more to ensure tenderness.
• While the chicken is cooking, fluff up the couscous and stir through the carrots, herbs, including the mint leaves, and lemon juice. Season to taste.
• When the chicken is done, lift it out into a warmed serving dish and leave to rest for about 10 minutes while you add the remaining glaze to the spring onions in the hot roasting pan. Leave to bubble away in the oven for a few minutes, then when good and hot, add to the serving dish with the chicken, reserving the spring onions. You can cut the chicken thighs in half, if you like. If using chicken breast, I would slice it up.
• Pile the couscous onto plates and divide the spring onions between the plates, top with the chicken and sprinkle over the toasted almonds. Pour any remaining glaze into a bowl to pass round separately.
• Note: Chicken thighs are a bit more economical than breast but are not as widely used because they are considered to be the inferior brown meat, though I am a big fan of the thigh meat for flavour. It does take a little longer to cook so make sure you rest the meat before serving as it will make it more tender.

Extracted from Every Last Bite (Quadrille)