You may remember a daytime quiz show on TV called Supermarket Sweep, or Dale’s Supermarket Sweep as it was known in the UK to acknowledge the camp Quiz Meister himself. Sadly overlooked at the BAFTAs throughout its lifetime it was well loved by the unemployed, those with sick notes and students. It also conveniently fell after ‘This Morning’ and before Countdown. Epic daytime scheduling.

Of course these days I work for myself and as such sick notes are a distant memory, as are my student days but I seem to remember the basic premise was to reach the final where the contestants sprinted around a mock supermarket filling a trolley with as much as possible at some point. Wiki reliably informs me however, this was the ‘Big Sweep’, building to a crescendo with the awe inspiring ‘Super Sweep’.

The reason for my rambling is that this dish was born from a typical mid-week ‘Big Sweep’ shop. No meal planning, no due regard for use-by dates, I just grabbed anything remotely interesting, swiped the club card and got out of there.

And so, after returning home and getting tutted at for forgetting, once again,  to buy anything dessert related, this roast vegetable dish was constructed from the results of my ‘sweep’.

It’s fairly near-East in style so maybe I had a subconscious plan but aside from a little chopping and flattening, it was very easy to do. This also means it’s eminently adjustable if you wish.

The tahini nicely offset the sweet butternut squash and peppers, but then millions of people around the Mediterranean Sea knew that already. I added Chorizo to balance the dish out and it worked nicely too.

Serves 4

• 4 small or 2 large chicken breasts.
• Olive oil
• 2 x 1 tsp chilli flakes (one for the vegetables, one for the chicken)
• 1 tbsp za’tar
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 butternut squash
• 1 large red pepper
• 1 large red onion
• 4 inch piece of Chorizo (or similar), diced quite finely
• Small handful of seeds to finish (I used sunflower seeds)
• Salt & Pepper

For the dressing:

• 1 tbsp tahini
• 2 tbsp good olive oil
• 1 pinch salt
• Small squeeze lemon

Preheat the oven to 190°C/380°F.

Start by flattening the chicken into thin escalopes. If using large chicken breasts, halve them through the middle first.

Season the chicken with salt pepper and 1 tsp of chilli flakes and brush with the some of the oil. Leave aside for now.

Slice the butternut squash into 1 inch/2.5cm cubes and chop the onion and pepper into large chunky pieces. Place the vegetables (leave the garlic whole) with the Chorizo into a tight fitting tray and pour over enough olive oil to coat well. Add the Za’tar and mix once more. Season with salt, pepper and chilli flakes and roast in a fairly hot oven (190°C/380°F) with foil on for about 20 minutes.

Remove the foil and roast for another 15-20 minutes until the butter nut squash is tender and the veg has some nice crisp edges.

Meanwhile – mix the tahini dressing by combining the ingredients in a small lidded container and shake well.

Lastly, get a griddle pan smoking hot and cook each piece of chicken until nicely barred on each side. They should only take minutes each if thin enough.

Serve the chicken on the vegetables (remove the garlic unless you want it). Drizzle over the tahini dressing and then the seeds.