Chicken chorizo salad

I was reading The Guardian's review (here) of Bill Granger's new London restaurant, and there was some snarky feedback about the fact that Bill is not really a 'chef', but rather, a savvy cafe operator and arranger of food (in that case, I'd like to hear their comments on Donna Hay...)  But is there anything wrong with simple, fresh food served in pleasant surroundings? No, nothing wrong at all.

And here's another non-chef - Nigella Lawson. The lack of cheffing skills certainly hasn't hurt her reputation, either. Regardless of the number of fancy cookbooks I own (heaps), it's always the ones that are not too complex that I end up cooking from, and Nigella's are at the top of the pile (together with DH and BG). The throwing-together of ingredients for this chicken and chorizo salad was inspired by something on the Nigella Kitchen tv show. I substituted croutons for the original potato to make it even easier. It's tasty and quick and I love it.

Chicken and Chorizo Salad

Serves 2

Ingredients

4 small chicken thigh fillets, trimmed of fat

1 chorizo sausage, sliced

1 small red onion, cut into chunks

½ red or yellow capsicum, deseeded, cut into chunks

2 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks OR a handful or two of bread croutons

1 tblsp olive oil

½ tsp dried oregano

½ cos (romaine) lettuce, trimmed, leaves separated

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

2. Place the chicken, chorizo, onion, capsicum and potatoes, if using, into a baking tray that is large enough to hold everything in a single layer. Pour over the olive oil, then sprinkle with the dried oregano. Cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked and the potatoes are soft.

3. If you are using croutons instead of potatoes, put the croutons into the baking tray for the last 10 minutes of the cooking time.

4. To serve: Divide the cos lettuce leaves between 2 plates, then top with the baked chicken, chorizo and vegetables.

Put the chicken thigh fillets in a roasting pan with the chorizo, onion and capsicum, and roast.

Add the croutons towards the end of the cooking time.

Serve on cos lettuce leaves with the oil from the baking tray drizzled over.

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Another in a series: What Cat is That?*

(or, What is wrong with this picture?**)

* It's evil Henry

** What's wrong is that Tabitha can't go into the backyard when Henry's around because she'll hiss at him and then he tries to scratch her