Couscous With Chicken and Chickpeas

Submitted by Stephanie Z.

"From Food and Wine magazine, posted for ZWT3. It's delicious, and my favorite recipe for chicken drumsticks (or thighs). "Served on a mound of couscous, with plenty of steaming broth poured over the top, the hearty Moroccan-inspired stew is a flavorful combination of chicken, chickpeas, vegetables, and spices.""

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 15
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil or 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 8 chicken drumsticks
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 onion, cut into thin slices
• 1 turnip, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1⁄8 teaspoon cayenne
• 6 cups water
• 3 carrots, cut into 1/4 inch slices
• 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (1 2/3 cups)
• 1⁄2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped and packed in
• 1 1⁄3 cups couscous

directions

1. In a large deep frying pan or Dutch oven, heat the oil over moderately high heat.
2. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Put the chicken in the pan and brown well, about 8 minutes in all.
3. Remove. Pour off all but 1 tbsp of the fat. Reduce heat to moderately low.
4. Add the onion and turnip and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes.
5. Stir in the tomato paste, paprika, cumin, cayenne, and 2 1/4 tsp of the salt. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
6. Stir in 4 cups of the water and the carrots.
7. Add in the chicken and bring to a simmer.
8. Cover and cook, stirring the mixture two or three times, until the chicken and vegetables are almost done, about 20 minutes.
9. Stir in the chickpeas and parsley and simmer until the chicken and vegetables are done, about 5 minutes longer.
10. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, bring the remaining 2 cups of water to a boil. Add the remaining 1/4 tsp salt and couscous.
11. Cover. Remove the pot from the heat and let the couscous stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
12. Serve the stew with its broth over the couscous.

Reviews

[Umm A.]

I used this recipe and had to comprise with what I had in the kitchen! However it came out very delicious

 

[connieseckart]

I made this tonight for dinner. I used chicken broth instead of water. Also I had boiled 5 pounds of frozen skinless/boneless chicken breasts and cubed it. I used about 8 ounces of this cooked, cubed chicken to make the recipe and just added it with the veggies later in the recipe. I didn't have a turnip, so used two potatoes. It was delicious

 

[Nicole]

I made this a fortnight ago with all the set ingrediants. It was yummy. I would use chicken without bone coz it fell off the bone any ways, so i was watching out for bone instead of thouraghly enjoying the meal. The only other thing is i did different was chickpeas not from a can and they were really hard and ruined the meal for me. We did try boiling them before hand but it did not work out. This was the first time i had eaten couscous, mmm i am in love! =]

 

[UmmBinat]

4 3/4 stars!!! It's that good! DH and I liked this one a lot. I used a whole chicken, potato instead of turnip as thats what I had, and some fresh mushrooms. I left out the cayenne out of preference and added 3/4 tsp. Recipe #79179 I served it atop rice cooked in some of the juices and extra chicken stock to keep it wheat free. The rice was really delicious cooked that way. I sprinkled a little chopped parsley on the top for presentation. This was a GOOD meal I would make again.

 

[KissaK1]

This was a really great recipe. I made a few minor changes: I didn't have turnips or carrots, so I subbed zucchini and and extra onions instead. I also didn't use the four cups of water and instead used chicken broth for it all. This tasted amazing and smelled great while cooking. Very easy, too! Thanks for sharing.