Moroccan Style Chicken and Chickpeas

I love this dish because it's so easy to make, but so flavorful and satisfying. It's actually pretty healthy, too, aside from the olive oil used to brown the chicken. One of my favorite parts is the spice combination: cinnamon contrasts with ginger, and chili pepper adds a little heat. The aromas from these spices are just amazing.

I know what you are thinking - "cinnamon??". It may seem odd to use this spice in anything except for dessert. However, cinnamon is actually commonly used in savory dishes in middle eastern cooking. It's the kind of thing that you may never think about trying, but once you do, you'll love it. The key to cooking savory food with cinnamon is to keep it as a background flavor so that it doesn't overpower the rest of the spices in the dish.

This recipe is based on a recipe from The Joy of Cooking called "Chicken Tagine With Chickpeas". However, it isn't actually cooked in a tagine, nor is it slow cooked, so I've changed the name here. (More about tagines in a future post - I actually do have my very own tagine and I love cooking with it.)

The technique used in this recipe is to brown the ingredients in layers, and then combine everything in the pot with some liquid and spices. In this case, the meat is browned first and then removed from the pan, to make room for the onions. After softening the onions and scallions, the meat is added back to the pan, with chickpeas, spices and water, to form a spicy broth. Simmering the broth for a few minutes allows the flavors to combine and keeps the meat really tender.

I've modified the original recipe to use cubes of chicken breast, instead of whole chicken parts. I've also added some thinly sliced zucchini mid-way through cooking. The zucchini maintains some of it's crunch and compliments the other flavors in the dish nicely.

I like to serve this over a bed of white rice mixed with cilantro. The cilantro in the rice compliments the garnish and makes the rice a little less plain. In fact, you can use this trick any time you want to spice up your white rice.

I think it would be pretty straightforward to make a vegetarian version of this dish. You could substitute tofu for the chicken, or just leave it out altogether.

This is what it looks like:



And here is the recipe:

Moroccan Style Chicken and Chickpeas
(serves 2-3)

2 Tbsp olive oil, or 1 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp olive oil for extra flavor
1 chicken breast, about .5-.75 pounds
1 onion, small to medium, chopped
1 bunch of scallions, chopped (I like to use both the green part, as well as the white part, except for the bulb at the very bottom.)
2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (I like to rinse them right in the can, using the lid as an aid to drain.)
3/4 cup of water, or broth, but be sure to adjust the seasoning if you use broth
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
3/4 tsp ground ginger (I don't think that substituting fresh ginger would give quite the same flavor but let me know if you try it!)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8-1/4 tsp chili pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp salt
black pepper, several generous grinds
1 zucchini, medium size, cut in half once lengthwise and thinly sliced, about 1.5-2 cups chopped zucchini
cilantro
1 cup uncooked white rice

Cut the chicken breast into 1 inch cubes. Add the olive oil to a large pot and heat up over medium heat. Add the chicken and brown just until no longer pink on all sides. The chicken shouldn't be cooked through at this stage - it will finish cooking later. Remove the chicken.

Add the onions and cook for a couple of minutes, adding more olive oil if the pan begins to dry out. Add the scallions and cook until the onions are softened and translucent.

Add the chickpeas, water, garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and chili pepper. Return the chicken to the pan and stir everything together until well combined.

Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and then simmer for 8-10 minutes.

Add the zucchini, with a little more salt and pepper. Cover again and simmer for 5 more minutes.

At this point, it's time to uncover, taste the sauce, and adjust the seasoning. You could add up to another 1/4 tsp each of ginger, salt and/or cinnamon, so adjust to your taste. If desired, you can also raise the heat and boil some of the extra liquid off to make the sauce thicker.

Cook the rice according to the directions on the package. After cooking and while the rice is still warm, stir in a handful of roughly chopped cilantro. The heat of the rice will wilt the cilantro.

Serve the chicken and chickpeas over a bed of the rice, and garnish with cilantro.

Grilled Balsamic Zucchini Bites

Is it just me or does everything taste better with balsamic on it? Seriously, I use it for everything from salad dressings to marinades and sauces, and it always adds just the right flavor. For example, one simple grilling trick my brother taught me is to marinade vegetables in balsamic before throwing them on the grill.

One variation of this that results in a delicious side dish is zucchini sliced into thin strips lengthwise, dipped in balsamic, and grilled. (By the way, I still have yet to find a reasonable way to cut zucchini into thin strips lengthwise without occasionally putting my fingers in danger. Please enlighten me if you know how.)

I was making this zucchini dish the other day when we were grilling burgers and was trying to think about how I could make it more fancy - like something you could do as appetizers at a party. It definitely needed more color and I thought it would be nice to have an additional flavor that would compliment the balsamic flavor.

I decided that goat cheese and roasted red pepper would do the trick. Since we already had the grill running, I did a roasted red pepper on the grill. To make it easier to eat, I rolled the zucchini up around the cheese and pepper and stuck a toothpick in. The result? Excellent! The goat cheese and balsamic flavors really go together very nicely. The roasted red pepper added color, without taking away from the other flavors.

One thing that I might try next time is to actually blend some roasted red pepper and some other spices with the goat cheese to make a spread. Also, since it's a little time consuming to roll each appetizer, next time I'll try to have everything portioned out and ready to roll before the zucchini comes off the grill.

Here's what it looks like:




And here's the recipe:

Grilled Balsamic Zucchini Bites
(makes appetizer potion for 4)

Roasted red pepper:
1 red pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil

Grilled zucchini:
3 zucchini, cut into thin (1/8 inch thick) lengthwise slices
balsamic vinegar, enough to coat zucchini, about half a cup
salt and pepper, to taste

goat cheese, one small package
toothpicks

For the roasted red pepper, poke some holes in the pepper with a fork. Then coat the outside with olive oil. Finally, put on the grill, rotating periodically, until the outside is fully blackened. It will take about 15-20 minutes.

After taking the pepper off the grill, put it in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let it sit for 5 minutes. After that, the skin will peel off easily. Cut it in half, removing the seeds and the skin. Then cut into thin strips. Cut the strips into pieces so that each piece is about the width of the zucchini.

For the zucchini, line up as many slices as you can fit on a plate. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and make sure they are fully coated by flipping them over a few times. Season all slices liberally with salt and pepper, flip, and do the same on the other side. Stack these slices on the side and repeat with another layer until all slices are done.

Grill the zucchini slices for a couple minutes on each side, until they develop a nice golden color. Adjust the cooking time to the thickness of the slices. They should be very soft, but not blackened.

Prepare all the ingredients in an assembly line to put together the rolls. Take each piece of zucchini and place a piece of red pepper and a dollop of goat cheese at one end. Roll the zucchini starting at that end. Finally, stick in a toothpick to hold it all together.

Enjoy!