Pesto Chicken Breasts, Couscous and Salad

Pesto Chicken Breasts. Basil pesto is an incredibly versatile ingredient to have on hand. Keep a pot in the fridge and you are minutes away from a richly-flavoured dish. Some stores sell a variety of basil pesto, including gluten-free, vegan and reduced-fat pesto. In this case, try and get your hands on the reduced-fat kind, I promise you will not notice the difference. Very important, when spreading the pesto onto your chicken, do not dip your spoon or knife into the pot of pesto in between spreads. Weigh out the pesto in a small bowl beforehand.

Ingredients

• 2 cups baby spinach
• 2 small tomatoes, quartered
• ¼ red onion, finely sliced
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 30g reduced-fat feta
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 chicken breasts, skinless and deboned
• 45g basil pesto
• 1 tsp olive oil, to fry the chicken
• 100ml hot chicken stock
• 60g couscous
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• chives, to garnish

Method

1. Combine the spinach, tomatoes and red onion in a bowl and drizzle over the olive oil. Toss well to evenly coat. Crumble over the reduced-fat feta and season with salt and pepper. Set the salad aside to serve with the finished dish.
2. Place the chicken breasts (one at a time) between two sheets of parchment paper and flatten using a meat mallet until they are thin and flattened. This ensures fast and even cooking.
3. Spread the pesto generously onto both sides of both chicken breasts. Heat the teaspoon olive oil in a large pan and fry the chicken on both sides until cooked through. This should take approximately 6-8 minutes, but it will depend on how flat you managed to pound them. If in doubt, slice a piece and check that it is no longer pink.
4. In the meantime, heat the stock until very hot (or simply use hot water from the kettle). Weigh the couscous in a small bowl and add the ground turmeric. Pour over the hot stock or water and cover with cling film. After several minutes, remove the cling film and fluff it with a fork.
5. When the chicken is cooked remove from the heat and serve over the warm couscous, and the fresh, simple salad on the side.