Sluttishly Savoury: Spiced Poussin and Warm Quinoa Salad

Baby animals are so cute aren’t they? And so… tasty! Well, look, before you all freak out I’m not cooking kittens here, just young chickens. Poussins are generally less than 28 days old and can be succulent little things cooked in the appropriate fashion. I’ve roasted mine here, added spice and salad but they work great spatchcocked on the barbeque, IF the sun ever comes out again?!

I’ve been wanting to eat and cook with quinoa (pronounced ‘keen wah’ in a soft Scottish accent, yeah?) ever since Dr. Gillan McKeith preached about the grain-like seed in that hilarious series of hers, You Are What You Eat. But, as much as I like chip butties, quinoa is said to have about a billion health benefits. It is a food I’ve struggled with in the past, but follow these simple instructions and you too can be a super food guru and shout about how ‘rather lovely’ your warm quinoa salad is particularly with some roasted poussins ‘daaaarrrling’.

Serves 2

You'll need:

• 1 poussin
• Half a mug full of quinoa
• 1 red pepper
• 1 onion
• 4 big cloves of garlic
• 1 long red chilli
• Olive oil
• A small handful of oregano, basil and flat leaf parsley
• 6 sun blush tomatoes
• Salt
• Smoked paprika
  

Make it!

• Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.
• Peel and cut the onion into wedges and arrange in a baking tray to form a trivet.
• Season your poussin with salt and a liberal shake of paprika and rub olive oil all over.
• Place your bird onto the onions and place one garlic clove inside cavity of bird. Leave the rest in the baking tray surrounding.
• Add the chilli and the pepper to the baking tray.
• The poussin and needs to cook in the oven for 45 minutes. So while it's doing that, get on with the rest of your dish.
  
• Soak the quinoa for 5 minutes in cold water. Then pop it in a pot and cover with 3/4 mug of cold water. (1 part quinoa to 1 1/2 parts water.)
• Bring up to simmer, cover with lid and cook for 15 min, then turn heat off and leave to steam for a couple more minutes then fork through.
• After 30 min of cooking your poussin, take the pepper and chilli from the oven and when cooled, roughly chop with your herbs and chilli and add to the quinoa.
• Once your poussin is cooked remove the onions and garlic, chop these up too and add to your quinoa so you get all of the flavours. You can add the juices from the pan too, and give it all a stir.
• Season the quinoa and add your portions to your plates.
• Top with your roasted poussin and serve. Wait for yummy noises and for people to ask what it is they're eating.