Chicken couscous

Serves: 8

If they like it, it serves 8 otherwise

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Totaltime: 1 hour 50 minutes

The Chicken Couscous is a flavorful and healthy dish with exotic spices but still simple enough to make any day of the week. Pearl couscous, sometimes also called Israeli couscous is the same as regular couscous but just a bit bigger and sometimes comes in various colors.

Ingredients

3 tablespoon Moroccan spice blend recipe below
4 chicken breasts about 1 1/2 lbs, boneless and skinless
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion chopped
5 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cup golden raisins
14 ounce chickpeas (1 can) drained and washed
14 ounce fire roasted tomatoes (1 can)
3 cups chicken broth low sodium
1 cup pearl couscous dry
4 cups kale rinsed and roughly chopped

Moroccan Spice Blend

1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cardamom

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.
Combine all the Moroccan spice blend ingredients together. The recipe should yields about about 3 tbsp.

Season the chicken breasts with 2 tbsp of the Moroccan spice blend thoroughly. Use more as preferred.
In a large Dutch Oven or a oven safe pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot add the chicken breasts and sear on both sides until browned, about 2 to 3 minutes per side.
The chicken will not be cooked through at all, it will just be crispy on the outside. Transfer the chicken from the pot to a plate and set aside.

Add the onion and garlic to the pot and saute for about 3 minutes until onion softens and becomes translucent and garlic is aromatic. add the remaining 1 tbsp of the Moroccan spice blend and stir.

Add the golden raisins, chickpeas, fire roasted tomatoes, chicken broth, couscous and stir well. Gently stir in the kale. Bring to a boil, then add the chicken breasts back.

Cover the pot with a lid and place in the oven. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes with the lid on, then remove the lid and cook for an additional 30 minutes.