Moroccan Couscous With Chicken And Vegetables
This recipe is adapted from one in Bon Appetit, March 1995. The only
changes I made were substituting potatoes for the 5 small turnips
called for in the recipe and using boneless chicken breasts instead of
3 1/2 lbs of cut-up chicken.
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
From Paul: "Everyone I have shared this recipe with has fallen in love with it."
- 2 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breasts
- 4 cups canned chicken broth, reconstituted
- 3 1/2 tablespoons butter or margarine
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, cut into wedges
- 1/2 pound plum tomatoes, quartered
- 1 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 whole jalapeño pepper
- 1/2 cinnamon stick
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder
- 1/8 teaspoon crushed saffron threads
- 5 medium potatoes, quartered (or use turnips)
- 4 large carrots, peeled, quartered lengthwise then crosswise
- 1 small acorn squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 3 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise then crosswise
- 1 19-oz. can chick peas
- 1/2 cup raisins
- couscous
Combine chicken and broth in a large Dutch oven. Simmer until chicken
is cooked through, turning occasionally (about 20 minutes). Using
tongs, remove chicken from cooking liquid; reserve cooking liquid. Cut
chicken into bite-sized pieces.
Melt 2 tablespoons butter or margarine with oil in a heavy, large
Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until tender
(about 10 minutes). Add tomatoes and next 8 ingredients and stir for
30 seconds. Mix in reserved chicken cooking liquid, potatoes (or
turnips), carrots, squash, zucchini, chick peas with their liquid and
raisins. Cover and simmer until vegetables are almost (about 15
minutes). Uncover and cook until vegetables are tender (not mushy),
about 5 minutes. Add chicken pieces to sauce and cook just until
heated through (about 3 minutes). Discard jalapeño pepper.
Cook couscous according to package directions and arrange on a serving
platter. Drizzle with 3/4 cup of sauce. Spoon chicken and vegetables
on top. Serve, passing remaining sauce separately.
Recipe shared by Paul.