healthy cooking recipes

Healthy Moroccan Chicken With Apricots And Chick Peas Recipe

Posted on December 31, 2008 by healthy-chef

Harrissa is a hot sauce made from red pepper, garlic and spices.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 4 large garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 150 ml fresh orange juice
• 4 skinless chicken breast fillets
• 150 g ready to eat apricots
• ½ tsp saffron threads
• 150 ml sherry
• 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 300 ml reduced-sodium chicken or vegetable stock
• black pepper
• 400 g can chickpeas

1. Place the garlic and spices in a bowl, pour over the orange juice and stir well. Slash the chicken with a sharp knife, place in the bowl and stir to mix together. Cover and leave in a cool place for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight. In another bowl, leave the apricots, saffron, sherry and sherry vinegar to marinate for a similar time.
2. Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole. Remove the chicken from the marinade and brown it over a high heat, remove and set aside. Reduce the heat slightly and adding a little more oil if necessary, cook the onion for 3 to 5 minutes. Add the flour and continue to cook for 1 minute. Add the apricots and their marinade, the remaining marinade from the chicken, the stock and a little pepper. Stir well and bring to the boil.
3. Return the chicken to the pan, add the chickpeas and reduce the heat. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for a further 15 minutes or until the sauce is thick and the chicken cooked through. Serve with couscous and harrissa.