Harissa chicken

Ingredients

• 2 skinless chicken breasts
• 4 tsp harissa paste
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 60g pine nuts
• 100g giant couscous
• 2 spring onions, chopped
• ¼ cucumber, chopped
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 200g chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 30g raisins
• Handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• Handful mint, chopped
• Extra virgin olive oil, to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F/Gas mark 3. Smear each chicken breast with 2 teaspoons of the harissa paste and place in an ovenproof dish. Drizzle over the oil, season with salt and pepper and bake in the oven for 20–25 minutes until cooked through.

Put the pine nuts in a dry frying pan and place over a medium heat for a few minutes to toast – remove from the heat as soon as they turn golden as they can burn quickly.

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook the giant couscous according to the packet instructions (times can vary). Drain and then combine with all the remaining ingredients. Serve each chicken breast on a bed of the couscous salad drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.

This recipe is extracted from Eat your Way to Lower Cholesterol, written by nutritional therapist and health writer Ian Marber and consultant cardiologist Dr Laura Corr with dietician Dr Sarah Schenker. Published by Orion, £16.99.