Mediterranean Chicken with Cous Cous (& the Kidsafe Cook-off!!)

 Today I had the honour and pleasure of cooking in Brisbane's King George Square for the annual Kidsafe Cook-off!  Kidsafe is a wonderful organisation, focussing on preventing unintentional death injury to kids, for which I am an ambassador - yay!

The 96five "Mums in the Kitchen"

Anyway, they hold an annual cook-off to raise awareness and to have some fun!  I was in a team with 3 of my workmates - Anny, Amy and Anna - and we were aptly called 96five Mums in the Kitchen!  The judges were celebrity chefs Dominique Rizzo and Damian Heads - who are also Kidsafe Ambassadors, and all-round great people!

Getting some pointers from Damian Heads

The challenge had two parts - firstly, Damian gave a cooking demonstration of his Mediterranean Chicken (recipe below), then we had 30 minutes to cook it ourselves.  The second part was a mystery box, where we were given several ingredients and had 20 minutes to create two desserts.

Our delightful desserts!

We had such a great time!  Unfortunately our team didn't win, but it really was a blast!  I was so proud of food we made and the team effort - we'll just have to keep practicing for next year!

Dom & Damian judging the mains

So here's Damian's recipe - as best I could remember it!  It was absolutely delicious and would make a perfect weeknight meal that the whole family will love.  Thanks again to everyone involved today!

Ingredients
Olive oil
2 chicken breasts
1 red onion, chopped
1/2 zucchini, diced
1 red capsicum, diced
1 teaspoon chilli paste
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
3/4 cup passata
1/2 cup olives, pitted and sliced
2 teaspoons basil paste
3/4 cup cous cous
15g butter

Method
Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat.  Place seasoned chicken in pan and cook for approx 10 minutes, until golden brown.  Add onion and turn chicken over.  Cook for another 5 minutes.  Add chilli, garlic, zucchini, capsicum and passata and cook, covered for about another 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil 3/4 cup water.  Add a pinch of salt and a splash of oil.  Take off heat, add cous cous, cover and stand for 5 minutes.  Add butter and fluff with a fork until butter is melted and there are no lumps.

Remove chicken from pan.  Add olives and basil to vegetables and toss to combine.  Slice chicken.

Arrange cous cous on plate, followed by chicken and vegetables.  Season with salt and pepper and a drizzle of oil.  Serve.