Chicken, chorizo and couscous

Losing weight eating the food we love. Here's what we had for dinner tonight:

SPICY CHICKEN, CHORIZO with BARLEY COUSCOUS

Method - slow cooker

INGREDIENTS

6 large chicken thighs
50g sliced chorizo
1 or 2 peppers - red and/or green

35g sultanas
35g flaked almonds

400g tin chopped tomatoes

400g tin chickpeas

1 tablespoon tomato puree

40g dried apricots, chopped (optional)

1 small chilli (I left mine whole and placed in the slow cooker - then removed before serving)

3 cloves garlic - chopped

1 small piece of ginger - grated

2 tablespoons Ras El Hanout rub (large supermarkets should sell this)

enough stock/water to cover

salt and pepper to taste
cornflour to thicken if necessary
yoghurt/paprika to garnish
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Marinate the chicken overnight if possible in the Ras El Hanout rub. We keep the skin on, as it will help the chicken stay nice and moist. 

Brown the chicken pieces in the frying pan first. Place all the ingredients into a slow cooker and cook until soft and tender (around 4-5 hours on high - see your cooking instructions). I've found if you place a whole chilli into the pot (remove before serving) the 'heat' is very subtle and less punchy. 

You may want to add the vegetables at the half way stage so they don't lose all their texture.

Once cooked, remove the skin and bones from the chicken and return the flesh to the pot. 

Reduce the liquid to thicken and concentrate the flavour. 

Add a little cornflour to thicken if you prefer. We try to let ours marinate for a day - as the flavour intensifies. So try to make the day before if you can bear it.

This was easy enough to make using the slow cooker and should serve 6 people.
We served ours with BARLEY couscous - slightly nuttier than usual. Decorate with a spoonful of cooling yoghurt and a sprinkle of smoked paprika. We estimate the dish to be around 500 calories. 

If you don't have a slow cooker, this can be cooked in a casserole dish in the oven, or simmered gently on the hob.

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Read about OUR UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss and find out how we have lost weight eating the food we love.

We all have a calorie allowance - so why not enjoy it? We try to post our main meals to show you what we are eating. You won’t find us posting every last morsel though – but we hope this gives you an idea of how far calories can go!

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