Grilled chicken with rice, lentil and courgette salad

Cheap, quick, delicious and healthy best describes this amazing meal rammed full of different textures and flavours. What more could you want from a meal?

what you need
100g green lentils
150g basmati rice
4 chicken (boneless)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons curry powder
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 courgettes, sliced into thin strips lengthways
1 clove garlic, crushed
coriander, small bunch, chopped
½ lemon, juiced
75ml yoghurt
½ small bunch fresh mint, chopped

Cover the lentils in water (do not add salt at this stage as it tends to toughen the lentils) and bring to the boil, turn down to a simmer and cook on a low heat until tender. In a separate pan cook the basmati rice.

Marinate the chicken in the curry powder with 1 tsp olive oil and salt. Toss the courgettes with 1tsp olive oil and the garlic and season and keep aside. Grill the chicken for a few minutes on either side until crisp, a little charred and cooked through.Then grill teh courgettes for a minute or two on each side until they are lightly charred.

Toss the lentils, rice, courgettes, coriander and lemon juice together. Mix the yoghurt with the mint leaves. Serve the chicken on top of the lentil salad with a dollop of the yoghurt dressing. As simple as that! Enjoy a healthy textured meal

Baked salmon with spiced chickpeas salad

A touch of spice can transform a plain old piece of fish into something of a masterpiece. Here I’m hoping to rub its effect on salmon but it would work immensely well on any other type of fish or chicken. This easy, healthy recipe can be prepared in a jiffy(15 mins)! So go on, get started!

for the fish
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon chilly powder
½ teaspoon salt(or to tast)
1 clove garlic, peeled and grated
1 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil or juice of ½ lemon
¼ teaspoon black pepper powder

2 salmon fillets

for the salad
200g chickpeas(I used a can of chickpeas as they cook faster!)
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
1 teaspoon turmeric
3 spring onions, sliced
1 red pepper, chopped
a small bunch fresh coriander

for the dressing
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon chilly powder
½ heaped teaspoon salt (to taste)
1 clove garlic, peeled and grated
juice of ½ lemon
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Mix all the dry spices together in a bowl. Add the garlic and oil. Mix thoroughly and rub over the salmon fillets. Place in the refrigerator for at least one hour. I marinated the fish overnight, which I think is the best way to cook fish.

Place the chickpeas in a saucepan with the sliced ginger and turmeric. Cover with water and bring to the boil. Cook until tender. Strain off any excess water and leave to cool. Alternatively, any type of lentil will do well for the salad, so experiment!

Bake the salmon on high temperature (about 225c) for about 3-5 minutes. Its best when its crispy on the outside but juicy and pink on the inside, but feel free to cook it however you like.


For the dressing put the cumin, ground coriander, chilly powder, salt, garlic, lemon juice and extra virgin oil in a small bowl and mix thoroughly.

To the cooled chickpeas, add the spring onions, the red pepper, coriander leaves, mix gently and then add the dressing and mix gently once more. Pour the salad onto a plate and top with the salmon. Drizzle any of the salmon juices over and get stuck in!
Note: Go wild with the vegetables in the salad. Cucumber and baby potatoes will do fabulously well too!