Easy moroccan chicken with couscous

Serves:

Ingredients

• 50g pine nuts
• 500g chicken breast or thigh fillet, cut into 2cm dice
• ¼ cup flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 onions, sliced
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground mild paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• ¼ cup sultanas
• 1 cup (250mL) chicken stock
• ¼ cup chopped fresh coriander or flat-leaf parsley
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2 cups couscous
• 2 cups water or chicken stock
• Thick natural yoghurt, to serve

Method

Heat a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add pinenuts, stirring constantly, until just starting to colour. Transfer pinenuts to a plate.

Place seasoned flour in a large bowl, add chicken and toss to coat. Add one tablespoon of oil to the frypan, increase heat to high and cook half the chicken until golden. Transfer cooked chicken to a plate. Repeat with another tablespoon of oil and remaining chicken.

Heat remaining tablespoon of oil in pan. Add onions, reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes or until golden and softened. Add cooked chicken to frypan with spices, sultanas and one cup of stock. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and cook for 5-10 minutes until heated through and thickened. Just before serving, stir in pine nuts, coriander and lemon juice.

To prepare couscous, bring 2 cups of stock or water to the boil in a small saucepan, stir in couscous and olive oil and turn off heat. Leave for 5 minutes, then use a fork to separate the couscous grains.

Serve chicken with couscous and yoghurt.

Notes:

• This dish elicited two “Oh, wow”s from my husband: on the first presentation and upon the quick reheat in the microwave two nights later (I was having a Big Night Out helping at the school disco!). It is not hot-spicy, so the kids will love it too.
• If you don’t have all these spices or don’t want to buy them all, you could substitute with two teaspoons of Moroccan Seasoning spice.
• I prefer to toast my own pinenuts, but you can pay a bit more and buy them already toasted.
• Make this gluten-free using gluten-free plain flour and stock and serving with rice instead of couscous.
• Recipe created by Melissa Hughes for Kidspot.

Serving Suggestions

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