Chicken Tagine with Lemon and Olives

We watched Raiders of the Lost Ark on blue ray last night. For dinner, Chris thought it appropriate to have German or middle eastern food. I felt north African better, and we agreed on Moroccan. Then of course was the discussion, chicken, beef or fish…

Checking on Cooking Light, I found this recipe for a Chicken Tagine, that I actually cooked using a large skillet as I don’t own a Tagine (the clay Moroccan pot) and it came out delicious.

The original recipe called for 12 skinless boneless chicken thighs but I only made 4 as there were only 2 of us. On the flip side though, I left the gravy/vegetable proportion the same, but did cut down on the flour and oil. In it’s original form, I’m not sure there would have been as much gravy as we would have liked.

Ingredients

• Juice from 1/2 large lemon
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• 2T all-purpose flour (about 1/2 ounce)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 cups chopped onion (about 2 medium) – I actually used 1 large red onion instead
• 1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 12 pitted green olives, chopped
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
• 1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Combine juice and chicken in a large zip-top plastic bag. Seal and marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes. Remove chicken from bag; discard marinade.

Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Mix flour, salt, black pepper, turmeric and red pepper. Dredge chicken in flour. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet with high sides over medium-high heat. Add half of chicken; cook for 3 minutes on each side or until lightly browned.

Add onion, ginger, and garlic to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Return chicken to pan. Add broth, olives, rind, and cinnamon stick; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour or until chicken is tender. Mine was literally falling apart at 60 minutes. Discard the cinnamon stick; stir in cilantro.

We enjoyed ours served over whole wheat couscous.

Additional Notes

The only change I might make next time would be to add some dried fruit (like a 1/4C), such as yellow raisins, currants, chopped apricot or maybe fig as I think the sweet would have complimented this nicely.

This comes in at 6 points a serving, without the couscous.