One of my new years resolutions is to waste less food. Usually with a roast chicken I’d use the carcass to make stock, but as my beloved thinks my risotto is boring, I’ve had to find new uses for my leftover roast chicken. Enter the easy Monday night meal.

Ingredients
1/2 left over roast chicken
1 cup couscous
handful of mint leaves
handful of basil leaves
1 lemon
2 shallots, sliced
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 zucchini/courgette shaved (use a peeler)

Pour 1 cup hot water over the couscous and leave for 5 minutes. In the meantime shred your chicken, zest your lemon and squeeze the juice. Mix lemon juice with vinegar and olive oil. Throw together mint and basil leaves, chicken, shallots, zucchini and lemon zest. Once 5 minutes have passed break up couscous with a fork and dress with vinegar and olive oil. Then mix with the remaining ingredients and that’s it. Dinner in under 15 minutes. Plenty of time for nookie.

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This is a really easy mid-week meal that’s impressive. It takes you to Morocco and the Middle East, so I suggest you put on that Middle Eastern music whilst cooking for your beloved. Serve them some mint tea while they wait for dinner or a lovely glass of white.

Ingredients
2 large chicken thigh or small breast fillets
1 onion finely sliced
2 gloves garlic finely sliced
2 tsp ras el hanout (or substitute for a mixture of tumeric, corriander and cumin)
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 tsp ground tumeric
400g can tomatoes
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 can chickpeas
1/2 large eggplant sliced into chunks
6 dates finely sliced
1 lemon finely sliced
1 cup couscous
2 tsp honey
fresh coriander

Method
Preheat oven to 175. Heat some olive oil on medium low in a tagine or something that will you can use on your stove and in your oven. Add onions and stir for a few minutes. Meanwhile, cover the chicken in the ras el hanout. Add the chicken to the tagine with the garlic. Turn the chicken until it is browned on all sides. Add the ginger, cumin and tumeric and combine. Stir for a minute until the smell transports you to another country. Then add can tomatoes and chicken stock. Turn the heat to medium. Combine well. Add lemons, chickpeas, eggplant and dates. Your tagine should be nearly boiling now. Once it starts to bubble put the lid on and transfer to the oven. Cook for 30 - 45 mins depending on size of chicken. Ten minutes before it’s ready pour one cup of boiling water over couscous. Leave for 10 mins then fluff with a fork. Stir the honey into the tagine and server over couscous. Sprinkle with chopped coriander and serve to your loved one…

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This recipe is super adaptable. I usually make it with lentils and yogurt, but I was afraid of missing fig season so had to create something. I love figs in balsamic, I’ve tried the other classic recipes with mozzarella and honey, but I just can’t get past cooking them.

This recipe is really quick by the way. You can make it all in under 30 mins.

Ingredients
300g lamb fillets
ground spices such as coriander, cumin, garam masala and tumeric
1/2 cup cous cous
4 baby carrots, halfed and halfed again
8 snow peas, halfed
3 figs, halfed
handful of pinenuts
tablespoon of butter
tablespoon white wine
tablespoon brown sugar
tablespoon honey
balsamic vinegar

How it all goes together
First you want to bring some water to boil for your snow peas. Then boil the kettle for some water for your cous cous. Add half a cup of boiling water to your cous cous and put it aside.

On low heat melt the butter, when melted tip half into a cup. Add wine to remaining butter in saucepan. Cook for a few minutes until the smell of wine has evapourated. Add pine nuts and cook for another minute or so and then remove from heat.

Your water should be boiling for the carrots, pop them in for a minute then add the snowpeas. After about 30 seconds drain and run under cold water, drain again and put aside.

OK on to the lamb, rub all of your spices into the lamb. Steady on the tumeric. Put into a frypan of hot oil (olive oil) and cook for about 1 1/2 mins on each side. Take out lamb to rest and return to your frypan. Put a good lug of balsamic vinegar in the pan - it will sizzle and smoke lots so you might want to turn off your fire alarm. Then put your figs in, put a bit more balsamic in and then spoon in your brown sugar. I have it on a medium heat.

Whilst they sizzle away contently, return to that cup of melted butter. Add a tablespoon of honey and cook gently in a pan until honey and butter have melted.

Ready to serve, slice your lamb. Put a fork through your cous cous and then tip in the pine nut butter wine mixture, mix a bit more with the fork. Add your carrots and snow peas to the butter honey mixture.

Put the cous cous onto 2 plates, stack with the carrots and snow peas and their sauce, top with the lamb and then put your figs on last.

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