Seared Chicken with Mint Yogurt Dressing

Ingredients

• 75 g (2¾ oz) dried wholewheat couscous
• 0.50 a kettle of boiling water
• 0.50 tsp vegetable stock powder or ½ stock cube
• 300 g (10½oz) skinless boneless chicken breast, cut into 1cm (½ inch) wide strips
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• calorie controlled cooking spray
• 50 g (1¾ oz) frozen peas
• 50 g (1¾ oz) sugar snap peas, sliced diagonally
• 0.50 red pepper, de-seeded and cut into thin strips
• 1 large spring onion, sliced diagonally
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• for the mint yogurt dressing:
• a small handful of fresh mint leaves
• 75 g (2¾ oz) 0% fat greek yogurt/low fat natural yoghurt
• juice of ½ a lime
• 0.50 tsp cumin seeds

Method

1. Put the couscous in a bowl, pour over enough boiling water to cover, stir in the stock powder and cover with a plate. Leave for about 5 minutes or until the stock is absorbed and the grains are tender. Using a fork, fluff up the couscous and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, using a hand held blender, blend together all the dressing ingredients, except the cumin seeds. If you don’t have a hand held blender, finely chop the mint and combine with the remaining ingredients. Transfer to a bowl, season and scatter over the cumin seeds.
3. Sprinkle the chicken with the thyme and coriander. Season then turn until evenly coated. Heat a griddle pan or non stick frying pan over a high heat. Spray the chicken with the cooking spray. Cook over a medium-high heat for 6 minutes, turning once, until cooked through and golden.
4. Meanwhile, bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add the peas, sugar snap peas, pepper and spring onion and cook for 3 minutes or until tender. Drain and refresh under cold running water.
5. To serve, divide the couscous between two large, shallow bowls then top with the peas, sugar snap peas, red pepper, spring onion and chicken. Spoon over the dressing before serving.

Notes:

Swap the chicken for 2 x 15g (½ oz) slices of light halloumi per person for 8 ProPoints values per serving. Pat dry with kitchen towel and prepare in the same way as the chicken in step 3, then griddle or pan fry for 2 minutes on each side or until golden.