Copycat

As I said in my last post, M&S makes a whole range of healthy meal pots that sell for 2 for £3 which are perfect for a travel pack lunch--particularly now that we have our travel utensil bag.

 

When we were in Chichester we got to sample a few that we had never seen in our local shop. I had this one day and thought to myself, “I can make that at home.” So I did. I carefully saved the ingredient list and brought it home and put on my thinking cap.

 

This recipe relies on our favourite condiment Lingham’s Ginger Garlic Chilli Sauce. This stuff rocks my socks. It adds a huge depth of flavour to food, it has all recognisable ingredients (chilli (30%, ginger, 10%, garlic, 10%, sugar, vinegar, salt) and  no nasties like high fructose corn syrup. I don’t know if you can find this in other parts of the world but I’m sure you can find something comparable.

 

The first time I made it I followed the ingredients on the packet, but the second time I made it I added  chickpeas to the meal to make it more filling. There are no chickpeas in the photo.

Copycat M&S meal

 

1 ½ cups chickpeas (cook your own or use a tin--drain and rinse well if tinned)

1 cup frozen sweet corn

1 white onion, chopped

1 pepper, chopped

About 18 spears tenderstem broccoli (one packet)

1 carrot, cut into matchsticks

 

Preheat your oven to 200C/400F

 

1. Cover the sweet corn with boiling water for a few minutes, then drain and run under cold water and then squeeze out excess water with your hands.

2. Chop the stems from the broccoli. Save the florets on a bowl.

3. Put the chickpeas, sweet corn, onion, pepper and broccoli stems in a big roasting tin and drizzle with 1 TB oil. Don’t do the carrots yet--save them for the end so they stay crisp.

 

Roast for 10 minutes then remove the pan and scoot everything over to the side a bit (leaving about ¼ of the space empty) and put the florets on the ¼ that you have cleared. Spritz or drizzle with a little oil. The broccoli just gets crisper if it has it’s own space.

 

4. Put it back in the oven for 18 minutes more.

 

Meanwhile make the sauce.

 

Sauce

 Juice of 2 limes

1 TB sherry vinegar

3 TB Lingham’s Ginger Garlic Chilli Sauce

1 clove garlic, minced

Pst of salt

Agave syrup to taste. I just squirt in and stir and taste until it is the perfect balance of tangy and sweet. I prefer it more on the tangy side.

 

5. Take the pan out of the oven and add the sauce and the carrots and then roast for 2 more minutes. Take it out of the oven and stir it all together mixing the broccoli with the rest of the roasted veg.

Serve over couscous.

 

Now go and copycat it for yourself.