Spicy coconut panko chicken and sesame kale

I like to think I am pretty good when it comes to living on a budget. Now that I am a student again, I am back to meticulously planning meals and doing all of my food shopping online. Although this involves a certain degree of planning ahead, I find that I only buy what I need which means I hardly waste anything. This recipe was something I created by using up a selection of random ingredients I had left over at the end of the week.

Panko breadcrumbs are something I always like to have in the cupboard. I find them a lot lighter and tastier than your normal breadcrumbs and they are delicious on salmon and chicken. I love sesame seeds and oil and they are always a welcome addition when cooking any Chinese or Japanese dishes, so I often have them hanging around. I had a little bit of coconut milk left over from a curry I made and coconut flakes from my breakfast bars recipe.The only fresh ingredients I used were an egg, the kale and the chicken.

It's not often I make something with leftovers and think to myself 'wow, this is actually really nice', but this dish is fast becoming a favourite of mine.

For the chicken: (serves 2)
2 chicken breasts
1 egg
100ml of coconut milk
120g of panko breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons of dessicated coconut flakes (you can use the grated kind but I prefer to have some chunkier bits in there)
2 tablespoons of sesame seeds
3 to 4 pinches of dried chilli flakes (depending on how hot you like it!)
2 tablespoons of toasted sesame seed oil
A drizzle of oil (I used a mixture of sesame and chilli oil, but sunflower oil will work too)
Salt & pepper

Method:
1. Pre-heat the oven to fan 190 degrees C.
2. In a food processor/mini chopper, blitz all dry ingredients (coconut, panko, chilli flakes, sesame seeds, salt & pepper) until a fine crumb is formed
3. In a shallow bowl, crack in the egg and whisk with a fork
4. Add the coconut milk in with the egg and whisk until fully combined, then add 2 tablespoons of sesame oil. Mix again.
5. Empty the dry breadcrumb mix from processor onto a large plate.
6. Using tongs, take each chicken breast one at a time, and dip into the egg mixture, thoroughly coating all sides of the chicken.
7. The transfer the breast into the breadcrumb bowl and thoroughly coat with the mixture.
8. Do this for both breasts and then transfer into a baking tray. Drizzle with oil of choice, and place in oven.
9. Remove the chicken after about 35-40 minutes of cooking, or until the outside crumb is golden brown and the chicken cooked through.

For the kale (also serves 2)
100g of curly kale (woody stems removed)
2 tablespoons of sesame seeds
2 tablespoons of toasted sesame oil

Method:
1. Place sesame seeds into a dry pan over a medium heat and toast until fragrant and golden brown. Put aside once toasted.
2, Heat sesame oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add kale once oil is hot.
3. Place a lid on the saucepan and cook the kale for 4-6 minutes, stirring ocassionally.
4, Place kale on a plate and sprinkle over the toasted sesame seeds.

The chicken and kale make a delish combo, but are equally as good eaten separately or accompanied by other things. Try this kale as a side for fragrant Asian stylesalmon fillets or enjoy this chicken alongside some coconut rice for a hearty dinner. My favourite thing to eat with the panko chicken is sweet chilli sauce - so naughty but so good.

Polpo Soho

If you live in London, you would have heard of Polpo. This Venetian small plates restaurant is taking the capital by storm. First opening in Soho back in 2010, and popping up in a number of other locations all over London, along with a best-selling cookbook and queues out the door, can you blame me for wanting to see what all the fuss was about.

My boyfriend and I spent a lovely couple of days in London which mostly entailed eating and drinking our way through every London borough. Both huge fans of laid back Italian dining, we headed to Polpo for a late dinner. Polpo is so polpular (haha, geddit?!) that we ended up waiting for just over an hour to be seated. This wasn't much of a problem though, as in the basement, Polpo have a little bar where you can indulge in an Italian beer or four whilst waiting to be seated.

It's no wonder this place is so popular. The menu is very impressive, offering some Italian classics like arancini (deep fried cheesy risotto balls - how can you go wrong), alongside some more unexpected dishes (you wouldn't find rabbit, apricot & sage terrine in no Bella Italia...) I've said it before and I'll say it again, I LOVE small plate dining, I think it's the greedy girl in me who wants to try everything on the menu.

They recommend 2 to 3 plates per person and we went for; arancini, a gorgonzola & prosciutto pizzette, coopa, peperonata & goat cheese bruschetta, spicy pork & fennel meatballs and chicken cotoletta aioli.

Every dish was incredible. The arancini were perfection - exactly how arancini should be. The pizzette was light, flavourful and extremely moreish. The bruschetta was easily our favourite - so simple but so delicious. The meatballs - spicier than we were anticipating - tasted so authentically yummy. And finally the chicken, which arrived last but was another one of our favourites, beautifully cooked and accompanied with a delicious aioli.

This was all washed down with a few Moretti beers and a delicious bellini.

All in all, exceptionally good Italian food without a stodgy carbonara in sight. Polpo is well worth a visit, and even worth the hangry hour we waited!