Moroccan Chicken

This recipe is adapted from one of the recipes in the end of my nutrition book.  I've gotta say, not all of the recipes in the book are ones that I'm going to make, but there are a good amount of tasty looking recipes.  The best part is that these aren't recipes that I would necessarily try on my own.  I've never thought to make Moroccan chicken before, but I had most of the spices in my pantry this recipe called for, so it made sense to try it out.

The best part about this recipe?  It's a one-pot meal and it is absolutely packed with flavor and veggies.  While the nutrition book suggested using chickpeas instead of rice as a base for this bowl, it did feel like it was lacking something to sop up all the delicious sauce.  Since I didn't use all the chicken stock I had on hand in cooking this recipe, I used some chicken stock to cook up some wheat berries as a base for this dish.  Not only did it add some great body to the dish, but it also added some great texture to the dish as well.

All I know about saffron is that it's a highly prized and expensive spice.  I've never cooked with it and pretty much always assumed two things 1- it was out of my price range and 2- they wouldn't sell it at Trader Joe's.  This week when I went grocery shopping (after making this recipe of course) I noticed that Trader Joe's does sell saffron.  Now, it's a tiny container, but it's great to know that they have it.  I bought some just to have on hand and I'm so excited to use it in the future.  If you have saffron, I highly recommend using it for this recipe, but don't fret if you don't have it.  I thoroughly enjoyed this recipe without the saffron, but have a feeling that it would have been better with it. 

Total Time:

Servings: 5-6

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs chicken thighs

1 yellow bell pepper

1 red bell pepper

3/4 cup cherry tomatoes

1 1/2 cups canned chickpeas

1/2 cup pitted green olives, sliced

2 lemons, zested and thinly sliced

1 1/2 tbs olive oil

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground turmeric

2 tsp red pepper flakes

Optional:

1/2 tsp saffron

1 cup cooked wheat berries

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350° F.
2. While the oven is pre-heating, chop your veggies and set aside.
3. In a medium dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat and ad garlic and bell peppers.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-5 minutes until peppers have softened.
4. Remove from heat and place chicken thighs on top of the bell peppers.  Add lemon slices over the chicken and add ginger, tomatoes, chickpeas, and olives.
5. Add the spices and lemon zest to the chicken broth and stir to combine.  Add the spiced stock to the dutch oven and return to the stove top over medium heat.  Bring the liquid to a boil.
6. Cover and place the dutch oven inside the pre-heated oven and cook for 35-45 minutes.
7. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Look at this one-pot-wonder!  So full of juicy flavor and spice.