Moroccan spices and caramelised lemon make this a zingy, delicious and warming dinner that feeds all the senses. We love the texture of the quinoa 🤚🏼, the lemony aroma 👃🏼, the spices are amazing combined with the lemon 👅, and the colours are bright and tantalising too 👀 (and we hope it sounds good to you! 👂🏼).

Serves 4.

Low calorie cooking spray

1 lemon, pitted and sliced thin
Pinch of brown sugar (optional)

1 small onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. paprika
½ tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground pepper
150g quinoa
1 tin chopped tomatoes
500ml vegetable stock

1 tin chickpeas, rinsed and dried
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp ground cumin

3 handfuls baby spinach
25g toasted almonds
25g (about 5 large) sliced green olives (I used Colossal greek olives)
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

Heat the cooking spray in a non-stick pan, add the lemon slices and cook for a couple of minutes until golden brown, flip and brown the other side. Set aside.

👩🏼‍🍳 Chef’s Note; if they’re not browning and just a tiny pinch of brown sugar to caramelise them.

To a large shallow pan add another spray of oil add the onion and garlic and sauté until softened. Add 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp cumin, salt and pepper and quinoa and stir through to coat and to lightly toast the quinoa.

Stir in the chopped tomatoes and the vegetable stock and bring to a gentle simmer, cover and cook for 15-20 minutes until the quinoa is soft and cooked through.

Meanwhile, back in the non-stick pan, add another spray of oil and once heated add the chickpeas, ½ tsp paprika and ½ tsp ground cumin, stir to coat and sauté until the chickpeas are golden and slightly crisped.

Once the quinoa is cooked, add the spinach and stir into the pan until it wilts then add the chickpeas and stir to combine.

Remove from the heat and stir through half the almonds then top with the caramelised lemons, the olives, the rest of the almonds and the chopped parsley.