Information
Notes
Harissa is a delicious North African spice paste—sold in cans everywhere you can buy Middle Eastern ingredients—hot but not fiery. It keeps nearly forever. This is a solid one-pot meal, and an impressive one as well.
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into ½- to 1-inch dice
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon cardamom
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups One-Hour Chicken Stock or any chicken stock
- 1 cup couscous
- ¼ cup raisins
- 2 tablespoons harissa, or more to taste
- 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 8 ounces zucchini, washed, trimmed, and cut into ¼-inch-thick slices
- 1 cup cooked (or canned) chickpeas (rinse if canned)
- 1 large tomato, peeled, seeded, and diced (about 1 cup; use drained canned tomatoes if you wish)
- ½ cup shredded mint
Directions
Toss the chicken with the cumin, cardamom, and salt and pepper to taste and let sit while you prepare the couscous.
Bring 1½ cups of the stock to a boil. Combine the couscous, raisins, 1 tablespoon of the harissa, the 1/3 cup olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl. Pour the boiling stock over the couscous, stir, and seal the top of the bowl with plastic wrap. Set aside for at least 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, put the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet and turn the heat to high. A minute later, add the chicken and cook until it begins to brown, about 2 minutes. Add the zucchini and toss, still over high heat, until it begins to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the chickpeas and the remaining 1 tablespoon harissa and ½ cup stock, along with the tomato. Bring to a boil, turn the heat to low, and simmer for 2 minutes; the mixture should be brothy. Taste and add more salt, pepper, and/or harissa to taste.
Serve on top of the couscous, garnished with the mint.
Nutritional Information
Nutritional information is based on 1/8 teaspoon added salt per serving.
Nutritional information does not include One-Hour Chicken Stock. For nutritional information on One-Hour Chicken Stock, please follow the link above.