Cajun Chicken and Sweetcorn

Covid increases the awareness of remote working luckily. As a graphic designer, I was spending so much time on the computer; this was causing me not having enough time for shopping or cooking. Eventually, I started to gain weight and eat junk food a lot. To stop this, I searched for an online food ordering service and decided to go with Gousto. I loved their branding and brand messaging, as well as their recipes. Since I’m Turkish and enjoy the Mediterranean diet, their recipes were the closest ones to my taste. To keep everything in my archive, I’m writing their recipes in here too for future reference.

Recipe for 2

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Pinch of sugar
• 320g chicken thighs
• Vegetable oil
• 80g trimmed fine green beans
• 2 garlic cloves
• 5.5g chicken stock mix
• 50g soft cheese
• 1 tbsp flour
• 150 g sweetcorn
• 400g butter beans
• 5g basil

METHOD

1. Boil a kettle. Add the smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, ground coriander, dried oregano, ground cumin, a pinch of salt, a pinch of sugar and a generous grind of black pepper to a plate and give everything a good mix up – this is your Cajun spice blend
2. Add the chicken thighs and turn them several times until they’re fully coated in all the spices
3. Heat a large, wide-based pan (preferably non-stick with a matching lid) with a generous drizzle of vegetable oil over a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the coated chicken thighs to the pan and cook on one side for 4 min or until slightly charred
4. While the chicken is cooking, chop the green beans into bite-sized pieces. Once chopped, add the chopped green beans to the pan with the chicken
5. Peel and grate the garlic. Dissolve the chicken stock mix in 200ml boiled water with the soft cheese and grated garlic – this is your creamy garlic stock
6. Add 1 tbsp flour to the pan and stir it into the sauce around the chicken, so the flour soaks up the juices. Turn the chicken thighs over and add the creamy garlic stock
7. Drain and rinse the sweetcorn and butter beans and add them to the pan. Roughly tear in half of the basil (save some for garnish!) and season with a generous crack of black pepper and a pinch of salt. Mix everything together and cook covered, stirring occasionally, for 12 min or until the chicken is cooked through (no pink meat!) – this is your Cajun chicken & sweetcorn casserole. Serve the kickin’ Cajun chicken & sweetcorn casserole in bowls. Tear the remaining basil over the top and season with a grind of black pepper

Enjoy!