Birthday’s are for CELEBRATING! It was my aunt’s birthday this past week and to celebrate her all round coolness, I cooked a lunch for her and a few friends. Theme?

hot, sexy, smoky and straight off the chargrill.

With these words in mind, I created a wholesome warm winter salad:

Chargrilled chicken and chorizo, tossed into paprika spiced pearl cous-cous with roasted med veg and fresh mint.

Photo by Paul Stone

Serves 4-6 people

Preheat oven to 200’C

• 400g chicken breast

(preferably marinated over night in olive oil, rosemary and garlic)

• 2 chorizo sausages, sliced
• 2 cups pearl cous-cous
• 1 large red capsicum
• punnet cherry tomatoes
• 2 red onions
• handful kalamata olives
• small block feta cheese
• handful toasted almond slivers
• mint, parsley, garlic, chilli
• paprika, salt and pepper

Method:

• Chop the onion and capsicum into rough chunks, place in a baking tray with the whole cherry tomatoes, drizzle over some olive oil and balsamic vinegar and roast in the oven at 200’C for about 20min.
• Start cooking the pearl cos-cous with seasoning and a dash of paprika (follow the instructions on the packet)
• In the griddle pan fry up the chorizo sausages with sliced chilli and garlic (cut 4 cloves of garlic into quarters). Once cooked, set aside.
• Turn up the heat and when your griddle pan is nice and hot, sear the chicken breast until they turn a golden colour and are marked with chargrill lines. Place in a baking tray.
• Take out your veggies and lower the heat to 180’C. Place the seared chicken into the oven and leave there for about 10min, or until cooked (depending on its thickness). This is the best way to keep your chicken juicy and tender!
• While your chicken is cooking, grab a large flat serving platter and pour in the cous-cous. Layer it with veggies and chorizo.
• Let the chicken rest for a minute or two and then slice into large pieces, placing it onto the veggies.
• Crumble in the feta, scatter over the olives and sprinkle in the fresh herbs.
• Drizzle of olive oil and balsamic, season to taste, crusty fresh bread and BHAM! Every birthday girl’s dream come true.