Chicken with ratatouille (and couscous)

Classes have started up again so we're back to budget, healthy recipes. In my week off I visited Krakau/Krakov for a few days, which was wonderful, might do a quick post about that and just generally relaxed at home. Apparently both my mother and brother are doing a low-carb diet, so it wasn't too hard to keep at it, not that I didn't indulge once in a while.

This one is actually a classic I make all the time, since you can make a big batch of ratatouille and eat leftovers all week long or freeze them for when you just can't be bothered to cook. I so usually eat this with couscous, which I'm foregoing today since I'm going out later and need my calories for drinks, ah the struggles of being a student. For a fancier version this recipe would definitely go well with some lamb as well, though I wouldn't use such an elaborate recipe for the meat then, just salt/pepper and thyme.

The typical ingredients of ratatouille are onion, garlic, courgette/zucchini, eggplant/aubergine and paprika/bell pepper. I didn't have any bell pepper so I used some leftover butternut instead, which worked fine as well!
 

Dinner - 3 to 4 people - 350 cal (ca. 400 with couscous) - 45 min prep + 45 min oven time

- 2 Onions (I used red ones, but any will do)

- 1 Aubergine/Eggplant

- 2 Courgette(s)/Zucchini(s)

- 1/4 Butternut Pumpkin or 1 to 2 red bell pepper

- 2 cans of peeled tomato (cubes) or 5 fresh tomatoes, cut into 12

- 8 to 10 cloves of garlic

- 2 or 3 bay leaves

- Thyme, Oregano, Rosemary (Herbs de Provence)

- Chicken drumsticks (1 per person) (Whole chicken or legs work too)

- Olive oil

- Curry, Paprika, Cayenne, Garlic (Chicken spices)

- Salt/Pepper

- (Optional: Honey)

- (Optional: Couscous)

- Cut your onion and half of your garlic finely.

- Put wide pot or flat wok on high fire with a little olive oil in.

- Start cooking your onion and garlic. Meanwhile cut your zucchini/courgette and butternut into cubes and add them to your onion/garlic.

- Cut your eggplant/aubergine into cubes and add them too.

- Give all your veggies a little colour, stir slowly so they all colour on the bottom and nothing burns.

- Meanwhile add your herbs the Provence. I did about 3 bay leaves, 1 tbsp of thyme, 0.5 tbsp or oregano and rosemary. And added frozen basil and parsley at the end.

- When all the veggies have some colour, add in (cubed or cut up) peeled tomato out of a can or cut up (into 12 pieces) fresh tomato. Stir in well.

- Reduce heat to medium and let cook for about 20 minutes, until it's slightly less 'wet'.

- Meanwhile make the herb mixture for the chicken: cut up finely rest of your garlic, mix with a bit of olive oil and add dry herbs (these are estimates, I generally don't measure herbs): 1tsp of thyme, 1tsp of chicken herbs, 0.5 tsp of paprika, dash of cayenne (to taste), 0.5 tsp ground up garlic, 1 tsp of curry, 1 tsp of salt, 0.5 tsp of pepper and a dash of nutmeg. For a bit of sweetness add a tsp of honey. Optionally if your herb mixture is a bit too dry to spread and you don't want to use more olive oil (since it's not super-healthy) add some lemon juice.

- Spread your herb mixture on your chicken, be sure to also get it under the skin (can be done with both legs or when using

a whole chicken, also put it inside then) to make sure the flavours get into the meat. Especially if you don't like or don't want to eat the skin of the chicken, just put all the herbs under the skin and pull the skin over them. That way the chicken will keep moist, but all the herbs flavour will be on the meat, not just on the skin. I used about half of my mixture on 4 chicken legs. The rest will keep at least a week in the fridge, probably longer.

- All above steps can be done way in advance and would actually be preferable so that way the flavours of the ratatouille can mix and the chicken marinates a bit.

- About 40 min before serving put your chicken in the oven at 180°C or 350°F (actual time will depend on type of oven and whether you use legs/drumsticks or a whole chicken). Keep track of it so it doesn't burn if you're new to cooking chicken in the oven.

- About 10 minutes before serving reheat your ratatouille on the stove. Take out bay leaves, add in basil (and parsley) and season with salt/pepper to taste. 

- (Optional: Boil some chicken stock, or water with a cube, add it to couscous so it's submerged, cover and let absorb moisture for 5min. Add to ratatouille and mix well.)