Moroccan Chicken with Couscous

It may be the first day of summer, but in my heart and mind it's always fall. I am drawn to warm comforting foods despite the time of year. If I can braise a chicken or short ribs on an unseasonably cool summer day, I will. Hell, I'll fire up the oven and turn on the air conditioning on the hottest day. I look for signs of fall color in fallen leaves all year long. Fall color happens all year long if you look for it. I color my surroundings with browns, oranges and reds in the things I buy for my home. In fact, the garden I planted last week is filled with muted oranges and deep reds. So it's not surprising that I made this gorgeous dish that not only screams fall color, but the comforting flavors of fall as well. This luscious dish of chicken leg and thigh meat braised with vibrant carrots and sweet apricots in a sauce made with warm spices of cumin, cardamom, and turmeric are sure to warm the soul on the darkest of fall ...summer evenings. 🌝Enjoy!

Moroccan Chicken with Couscous

(Adapted recipe from Teri Villanueva @ ChefTech Cooking School. The original recipe calls for lamb.)

1 1/2 lbs. boneless chicken leg and thigh meat, chopped
2 T olive oil plus 1 T olive oil for browning
1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. cardamom
1 tsp. kosher salt

Add chopped chicken to a bowl, add 2 T olive oil and spices and mix to coat chicken. Cover and set aside. Heat 1 T olive oil in a large dutch oven and work in batches to brown chicken over medium-high heat. Set chicken aside.

1 yellow onion, chopped
3 carrots, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T ginger, minced
2 T tomato paste
1 lemon, zested*
1 T honey*
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup dried apricots, chopped
1- 14oz can of garbanzo beans, drained**
1 1/2 cup couscous ** 
cilantro, chopped (garnish)

*I substituted 1T of my Meyer Lemon Jam for the lemon zest and honey.
**I used Trader Joe's® Harvest Grains Couscous Blend® that contained mini garbanzo beans and omitted the addition of the can of garbanzo beans. If you can't find Harvest Grains Couscous blend, use regular couscous and add a can of garbanzo beans as written in recipe above.

Add onions and carrots to the dutch oven and sweat for 5 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook for 5 more minutes. Stir in tomato paste and add chicken back to the pot. Add lemon, honey, chicken stock and apricots. *If using regular couscous and adding garbanzo beans, add the can of garbanzo beans to the pot at this time. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Prepare couscous according to package directions and set aside.

Seasoning Oil
2 T olive oil
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/ tsp kosher salt

Heat olive oil and all spices over medium high heat in a small skillet until hot and fragrant, stirring constantly. Pour into chicken right before serving. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

 More recipes to try:

Shakshuka

Potato Gnocchi and Spinach Curry

Mulligatawny Soup