22.12.08: Lemon chicken with beetroot, radish and avo salad

He prepared the lemon chix meal earlier so She could just simply stick it in the oven, set it and forget it. She chopped the salad fixin's of avo, sweetfire beetroot and radishes and added them to the watercress tentacles.

SHE SAYS: He does good prep, I must say. It was terribly satisfying to simply remove clingfilm and pop the pan in the oven so I could go do my thang. Potatoes and chix were crispy and delish, with plenty of garlic kick. My only quibble was the extreme sourness of the lemons, and you know I'm a lemon-lover. These were toothsuckin' bitter. Salad gave us all the joys of crunch and creaminess with a touch of sweetfire sugar.

HE SAYS: It's been a relative while since we experienced the lemony power of this dish. Perhaps this is the last one of 2008 but I'm still digging it with lots of tartness and savoury goodness – roll on 2009. As per usual the beetroot in the salad was on fire with its overall sweetness 'n' deliciousness.

11.11.08: Lemon chicken with radish and pomegranate salad

The week of family faves continues with the obligatory lemon chicken, lovingly prepared and roasted by Him. A spinach salad of pomegranate and radishes crept into the picture.

HE SAYS: After weeks away I began to question my love for the lemon chicken; how foolish I was to ever doubt the power of this hearty, zesty treat. The 'taters were crunchy outside and fluffy inside; the chix was tender, juicy and crispy; the green bnz, garlicky, lemony and light. What more could you ask for? The salad offered two types of peppery sensory experiences with the pomegranate and radishes competing for my attention.

SHE SAYS: Like He says, never was the deeply familiar such a good surprise. This time I think the green bnz absorbed more than their fair share of flavour, but draping my chicken with the jammy lemons added plenty to the palate-teasing taste o' chicken. Salad continues to add extra-satisfying crunch after weeks mostly without.

01.10.08: Lemon chicken

He fired up the oven and cooked up the family fave of lemon chicken with the garlic green bnz, exquisa 'taters and lemon slices. A salad of watercress, spinach and rocket with avo, tomatoes, beetroot and sunflower seeds looked up from the rim.

HE SAYS: Ummm, not one of my best efforts, in fact it was a tad watery. I may have added too much oil and not enough salt. The garlic was representing and livin' it large but got a little burnt on top of the chix. The potatoes were not as fluffy as other varieties we've tried, either. The beetroot was as good as I remember (from a few days ago), it being, stil,l one of my fave salad veggies along with it's peppery pal, the radish.

SHE SAYS: Really, same as He said - it was oddly watery, and the lemons weren't v. jammy - but still pretty good and garlicky, nonetheless.

27.08.08: Lemon chicken nite

He brought home the chicken...baked it up in a pan...and never, ever let me forget he's the man...'70s commercial lyrics tribute aside, folks, it's lemon chicken nite! With special guest, salad. Featuring: carrot, avo, pear and a choice of leftover wasbi lime dressing or mustard dressing (courtesy of Sunday's green bnz).

SHE SAYS: It's like your favourite chair or pjs - you don't know how much you love it til you need it. Lemon chicken was as good as it ever is, with the lemon and the garlic fighting it out for tastebud domination - and neither overwhelming. I plumped for the tingly citrusy wasabi lime dressing and ate more salad just to have more dressing.

HE SAYS: We sure like our lemon chicken but consistency is a good thing, huh? Discuss. I believe it allows you to tweak and tune a dish until it's perfect; others might say we are boring and lazy. Who cares? It's delishimo, all that lemony goodness over some crispy chicken and roasty-toasty 'taters and green bnz. What's not to like? the salad was pepped up by, once again, the carrot and pear combo and I reveled in the twin dressing offering, sampling both varieties one after the other in quick succession.

11.08.08: Lemon chicken nite

He got out the big white roasting pan and cooked up some lemon chicken (with the judicious addition of lemon thyme) and assembled a bright spectrum of a salad with tomatoes, roasty pumpkin seeds, strawberries, avo, and sweetfire beetroot.

SHE SAYS: Such fab comfort food to come home to. I lingered over the we-be-jammy lemons and melty potatoes along with chicken that combined crunch and tenderness with lashings of garlic and lemoniness...well, really, need I say more? Salad was only slightly less a star, with deeply ripe strawberries mixing esp well with the toasty seeds.

HE SAYS: I think I reached the zenith of the lemony-oil-jamminess factor in this latest entry in the 2008 Zesty-Lemon stakes. it's only taken around, give or take, 30 or so tries this year to find the ultimate balance between how much olive oil to pour and how much lemon juice to stir into the mix. With crispy skin on the chix and still enough liquid left to spoon over, it was neither too dry nor too soggy. The salad was pretty much a "throw everything in from the fridge except the physalis" affair but it worked well, especially the added roasted pumpkin seeds, which were particularly exquisite tasting, if I allow myself to be so brazen as to boast.

23.07.08: Lemon chicken with moz and pear

He put together the lemon chicken dish with a mozzarella, pear and avocado salad gussied up in wasabi and lime dressing.

SHE SAYS: Really jammy on the lemons tonite, I've been missing that element. Tried to cut in a bit of lemon with every bite! Exceptionally garlicky roasty green beans, and in this dish, the more the grn bnz feel the heat, the better. Typical nods of approval to the chicken and potatoes as well. Enjoyed the wasabi whoosh of the dressing - a kicky partner for pear - but felt it overwhelmed the shy moz, leaving it only texture, not taste, to wow with.

HE SAYS: I par-boiled the potatoes a little longer then I intended but they still came out pretty crunchy and not the mush I was half expecting. Chicken was done perfectly, not too dry and crispy skinolá to boot. The lemons were jammin' but I could have done with a little extra lemony-oil to spoon over the top of the chix - still, I'd rather have less then it be a sea of grease. The salad was quite the extravaganza, what with the mozzarella cheese anf the lovely pear paring, I couldn't complain so didn't.

08.07.08: Lemon chicken

Ain't no fight about lemon chicken nite: He did the honours with the garlicky green bnz, jersey royal potats, whole lemon slices, and the chick-chick-chick-chick-chicken...plus a salad of vine tomatoes, garlic-stuffed olives, and avo.

HE SAYS: Got to luv that lemony goodness, yes sir. I thought tonight's rendition was especially pleasing. I chopped the garlic a little coarser and was a little conservative with the oil and lemon juice, thus reducing the liquid ratio a tad, keeping things crunchy and not at all soggy on the bottom. The salad did its job of a tasty distraction, the olives helped keep the tang theme alive to the end.

SHE SAYS: Mmm-mmm good - never lets us down, but some are better than others and this was a winner. Good crunchy-to-fluffy ratio on the potatoes, and excellent chicken: crisp and juicy. Lemons not as jammy as some other times, but still tempting.

18.06.08: Lemon chicken nite

While She was out, He did the lemon chicken and rustled up a salad complete with radish, leftover halloumi panfried, avo, and physalis.

HE SAYS: Probably the most satisfying of our regular meals, this one keeps us coming back for more. Maybe it's the jammy lemons or the the roasty-toasty 'tators? Whatever it is, it adds up to a one delish of a dish. The salad was a halloumi fest with lots of squeaky noises emanating from every bite, what's not to like?

SHE SAYS: Very tasty with nice crisp skin and tender chicken, but not so jammy on the lemons or crips on the taters (though, being jersey royals, they had plenty of deeply potatoey flavour). Salad leaves were a little past sell-by, but I found enough good bits to hold the whole thing together, despite what He says. Halloumi was a little overdone, echoing last nite's theme of 'a bit tough'.

02.06.08: Lemon chicken nite, all right

It's baaack: She cooked up some lemony roasty chicken and potato and green bean goodness to repair the some of damages of the day's living, as she said.

HE SAYS: I do like a little tart now and again - lemon chicken variety, of course. The breast was tender and juicy...I'll stop trying to make any more sexual innuendos now. This version of our classic was just what I wanted: sour, olive-oily, roasty and delicious. I skipped the salad, will have to wait for tomorrow's review to get the scoop, but it looked nice.

SHE SAYS: It was a winner, once we stuck it all back in the oven for 15 minutes to cook the chicken properly! I always thought this recipe was a little overlong, but apparently it isn't. Good jamminess from the lemons, and good crisp-to-fluff ratio on the spuds. Didn't have room for salad, so it will be making a special encore appearance tomorrow nite.

16.04.08: Lemon chicken

Ladies and gentlemen, He brings you....lemon chicken nite! With special guest star, Zea's salad: sultanas subtracted, but radishes and grapes added.

HE SAYS: Since this is such a regular item on our menu it give me the opportunity to experiment slightly with liquid/juice ratio compared to the written-in-stone recipe. It asks for two lemons, one for juicing and one for chopping and laying. I have found that you need two for laying under the chicken and 2 for creating the marinade. Tonite's version was pretty spot on, not too dry and not swimming in juice. The chicken had a crunchy skin and the potatoes were on the verge of being burnt (but not) just the way I like 'em. The green beans were the same, delishimo. I likey the almost fruit salad too, on the same plate as the chix, thus stealing some o' the lemon sauciness.

SHE SAYS: The lemons were jammy, the chicken was tender, the green beans were virtuous veg al dente...even with my nose all stuffed up I could tell this was a good one. The salad was sweet and spicy with plenty of crunch from the remaining pecans and radishes. Mm-mm good.

26.03.08: Lemon chicken nite

Lemon chicken, how do we love thee? Let us count the ways.

SHE SAYS: Truthfully, we enjoy lemon-saltiness to an almost indecent degree, and tonite's meal tickled that fancy for me just fine. Green beans and potatoes were perfectly tender-crisp, and the chicken had a v. satisfying crunch as well as excellent lemon flavour. Only one 'pick: no lemon- juice-and-olive-oil 'sauce' left to spoon over the chicken, which can get a teeny bit dry (He drained off the liquid near the end to help the potats roast faster). But that's a v. minor sidenote on an otherwise luscious dinner.

HE SAYS: What She said. Plus the salad with the added pear and my favourite, radishes, was extremely delishymo (a googlewhackblatt!)

21.03:08: Out to Won Kei

It's hard not to go to Won Kei after a long afternoon in the West End. And it would be hard to consider any other Chinese restaurant in the area, despite the many options available. Fun fact: He tried to commandeer a small empty table, only to be shooed over to a big round one where two people were already digging into some noodles. She had a chuckle - no one can breach the immutable laws of Won Kei: You will eat elbow-to-elbow, or else! And you will drink jasmine tea from a tin pot, and you will like it!

Our own immutable laws of Won Kei include: You will order the choi sum. You will spoon fiery chili flakes in oil over selected parts of the plate throughout the meal. And you will, of course, share.

HE SAYS: Having ordered Singapore Fried Noodles probably for the last hundred times I've eaten here I thought it was about time to explore other options on the menu. The cold duck and pork over hot rice hit the spot but I think secretly we both wish we had a plate of the delicious lemon chicken each to ourselves to devour, m-m-mmmm.

SHE SAYS: Be it ever so humble, Won Kei feels like home. I feel all the strain of the bags I'm inevitably carrying fall away the minute I sit down. The choi sum was as perfect as ever - mildy bitter, and subtly flavoured with the grated, steamed ginger. I plumped for the lemon chicken, which is the best I've ever had anywhere - suitably artificial, but not too sweet, and the breadcrumbed chicken slices were crispy and tender.

04.03.08: Lemon chicken and mozzarella salad

He prepared it, She watched the oven...it's the Hungry Man dinner with a citrus kick: our fave lemon chicken returns. And it's not alone.

Special guest star Caprese salad puts in an appearance (His idea, Her execution).

HE SAYS: Mmm-mm good! Just like my momma didn't make. This chicken dish is in heavy rotation at the mo', more out of pleasure than habit. There was less juice in the pan, which helped the chicken and the potatoes crisp up nicely. The salad also hit the spot - who doesn't like fresh mozzarella? Spotted the lowfat version in the store, but mozzarella is already a lesser offender in the fat dept. than most cheeses, so why sacrifice flava-flav?

SHE SAYS: I always looove lemon chicken nite. Completely agree about the fresh mozzarella, and I would add that even the cheapo store-brand is delishy over here. Only prob is tomatoes can be watery this far out of season, but the salad was still v. refreshing and made a nice change from our usual combos.

13.02.08: Lemon chicken

The chicken is kickin': Lemon chicken with potatoes and green beans brighten up a Wednesday nite, courtesy of Him this time.

HE SAYS: Nice juicy chicken breasts. The potatoes were deeeeelicious, with loads of lemony tang.

SHE SAYS: Happy sigh. The potatoes were good, but I still think the anyas are the best roasters.