Poached chicken with kale and roasted cauilflower with israeli cous cous

dressed in a garlic chilli oil and dijonnaise dressing

(serves 4)

Another standard lunch recipe that I prepared for the week which keeps reasonably well and is full of good green nutrition! The poached chicken i am still struggling to perfect in terms of texture, but Paul seems to get it right every time! Something about me and breast :P 

I used the chilli and garlic olive oil that we got from the markets when we last went down to Canberra almost a year ago ~ really handy to quickly dress steamed vegetables with a bit of an oomph!

Prep time: 20 min

Cooking time: 45 min

Ingredients
1 cauliflower
500g chicken breast
2 cloves garlic
3 branches kale
100g spinach
1 C israeli cous cous
handful of toasted hazelnuts 

Dressing
2 T dijonnaise
2 T chilli garlic olive oil
salt and pepper
1/2 T apple cider vinegar 

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Cut the cauliflower into bite-sized florets, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast for 30-40 minutes, turning occasionally until softened but with crisp edges.
2. Cut the chicken breast into thirds and poach for 20 minutes (bring water to the boil, then place the chicken in and bring the heat back up to just boiling and take it off the heat and leave for 20 minutes).
3. Meanwhile, cut the kale into thin slices, excluding the steam towards the end of the branch. Finely slice the garlic.
4. Heat a frypan up to medium heat, add in 1/2 T oil then add in the garlic. Sauté for 30sec, then add in the kale and 1/4 C water. Cover with a lid and steam for 1-2 minutes to soften the kale. Remove the lid and toss until softened. Season with salt and garlic chilli olive oil. Set aside.
NB. I've found that adding that bit of extra water to steam the kale both softens and sweetens it!

5. Heat a pot full of boiling water (approx 2 C) and cook the israeli cous cous for 10-12 minutes until al denté. Drain and rinse.
6. Cut the chicken breast into bite-size pieces, and dress generously with salt, pepper, dijonnaise and garlic chilli olive oil.
NB. This will be the main seasoning so don't be afraid to be generous!

Chill and garlic oil from Canberra!

7. Toss the israeli cous cous with the spinach and kale. Add in the cauliflower and chicken and toss to combine. Season with salt, pepper and chilli garlic olive oil to liking. Serve with crushed hazelnuts on top for extra crunch!