Harissa Chicken with Roasted Courgette & Quinoa

Ingredients

• 4 chicken thighs, boneless, skinless
• 250 g quinoa, rinsed
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 courgettes, sliced into half-moons
• salt and black pepper
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 0.5 tsp chilli flakes
• 3 tbsp garlic-infused olive oil
• 3 spring onions, green tops only, sliced
• 0.5 tsp ground coriander
• 0.5 tsp caraway seeds
• 15g fresh coriander, chopped
• 1 lemon, juiced
• Warm pitta bread, to serve
• Chopped salad, to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C. In a small dry frying pan over medium heat, toast the smoked paprika, cumin, ground coriander, chilli flakes and caraway seeds for 30–60 seconds until fragrant and a shade darker — bloomed spices taste of themselves; raw spices taste dusty. Tip into a bowl.
2. Stir the tomato paste and 2 tbsp garlic-infused oil into the warm spices to make a thick, brick-red paste. Season generously with salt and pepper — this is the only seasoning the chicken gets, so don't be shy.
3. Pat the chicken thighs dry (water means steam, and steam means no charred edges), then coat them all over with the harissa paste, working it into the folds so every surface is slicked.
4. Toss the courgette half-moons with the remaining 1 tbsp garlic-infused oil, salt and pepper, and spread across a large roasting tray in a single layer — don't crowd them, or they'll steam instead of roasting and you'll lose the colour at the tips. Nestle the coated chicken thighs on top so the spiced juices drip down as they cook.
5. Roast for 30–35 minutes, until the chicken reads 74°C at the thickest point with charred, glossy edges and the courgette is tender with browned tips.
6. Meanwhile, bring a pan of well-salted water to the boil and cook the quinoa for 12–15 minutes, until the grains are tender and the little curls have unfurled. Drain, return to the pan off the heat, and let it steam dry under a tea towel for a minute — that's how you get fluffy quinoa instead of a wet clump.
7. Tip the quinoa into a wide bowl and toss through the lemon juice, spring onion tops and chopped coriander. Taste, season, taste again — the lemon and salt should both be present, lifting the grains. Adjust now, not at the table.
8. Spoon the herby quinoa onto plates, lay a harissa-charred chicken thigh on top, scatter the roasted courgette around, finish with extra chopped coriander, and tuck a lemon wedge at the side of each plate for squeezing over.