Australian quick-poultry veteran Red Rooster has joined forces with food-court stalwart SumoSalad to give hungry consumers a healthier way to nosh.
Go on, you eat fast food, don't you? At least sometimes. We all do – it's ok, we're all friends here. Especially when those lunch breaks are never long enough, or you just don't have time/ desire keep up with the wanky 'MasterChef'-isation of cookery in the 'burbs after work. You can't saute everyday.
Enter chicken. Golden, glorious, MSG-free Australian chicken. Accompanied by crunchy, stoner's dream chips with just the right sprinkling of salty goodness. For more than 40 years, Red Rooster has provided chicken-loving punters with a succulent, roasted alternative to a certain Colonel's secret herbs, spices and (not so secret) deep-fryers – and still it doesn't disappoint.
The revered chook chain now offers two tasty, eclectic SumoSalads in its new guilt-free menu – red-pesto penne and zesty-pumpkin couscous – to complement its new, healthier outlook.
Red-pesto penneI must say, I was impressed. The pesto penne salad is the ever-so-slight superior of the pair, according to this reviewer, with its fresh pasta and flavoursome, sun-dried tomatoes, paprika and garlic providing an ideal, chilled accompaniment to delicious, hot chicken and chips.
This is not to say the zesty pumpkin option isn't also a winner. With a tangy twist of lemon, capsicum, shallots and pepitas (hipster pumpkin seeds) adding to the delicious pumpkin and light, fluffy cous cous, one can't go wrong. The healthier chicken recipe doesn't detract from Red Rooster's classic taste at all and, if anything, improves upon it.
Zesty-pumpkin couscousWith the munchable economy generally skewed towards bad food being cheap and good food at the pricier end, it is encouraging to see one of the bigger players in the quick-service industry offer us lunching folk a more waistline/ aorta-friendly option.
