Moroccan Chicken…so easy to make in the crock pot while you are busy with Holiday “Stuff”!
Thanksgiving is next week and many of you are planning big dinners….including my massage therapist!
I needed to visit her last Saturday….I think I threw my back out or hip out or something like that…anyway, I was walking with a hitch in my-get-a-long if you know what I mean…..and I sort of looked like John Wayne walking down the street leaning a little bit to my left. (Sorry, my dear readers….perhaps John Wayne is a bit before your time, but all my older readers will know who I am talking about.
Soooo, while my body is being distorted this way and that, as I lay face down on the massage table…I started talking about food! I don’t know if it was to take my mind off the pain or to distract “Wanna” from stretching my leg/knee to almost above my behind. Finally, had to tell her “that ain’t happenin” ….the ole knees won’t let me do that anymore! You know I have my special names for people….I call my massage therapist Wanna, cause I wanna go get fixed up, but I really don’t wanna go. You know what I’m saying?
But I digress….(as usual, off topic), so I asked Wanna if she had a big Thanksgiving Dinner planned and she told me about 30 people were coming from near and wide and she was very excited. Her getting excited was not necessarily a good thing because the more she talked of distant relatives across the ocean, the more her little bony fingers pressed deeper into my back muscles! Ugh!!!
It was all worth it in the end because Wanna gave me a recipe for a delicious Chicken….well, she called it something else, I changed up a few of the ingredients and it ended up tasting wonderful…so I simply called it Moroccan Chicken.
The ingredients for the chicken are what makes this dish out of the ordinary. Fresh ginger….ohhhhh the wonderful aroma of this exotic spice while grating it….love it! Love it! Love it! ….and honey, garlic and a cinnamon stick!
The spicy hot chipotles in adobo sauce can be modified if that is a bit spicy for your taste, but the Captain absolutely loves hot and spicy…and so do I.
I have been using coconut milk in several of my recipes lately and I do like the flavor it gives…and it is healthier too. Added to the coconut milk is the unlikely pairing of soy sauce. Toss all this into the crock pot with a few carrots and red bell pepper and the chicken thighs (or you can use chicken breasts) and set it and forget it.
Trust me….you need to try this recipe….so easy and really delish! Perfect for busy days or just for a cozy evening meal. I mean, who doesn’t like cozy?
And to make this dish even better, I served the Moroccan Chicken over Jasmine Rice with Pomegranate Arils…and chick peas! Yep…there is that healthy part of the dish! 😉 But let me just take a minute to talk about Pomegranate Arils.
Call my silly, but I just love those glistening, little, ruby-red gems inside the Pomegranate. The taste they add is…yes, I am going to say it….they are romantic! 😉
I also added grated orange peel…now, who doesn’t like the smell of a freshly grated orange zest? Yummy! AND I added more coconut milk, molasses, butter, chick peas, chopped roasted pistachios and sliced almonds. What a combination!
Seriously, this is good eats. Both of the printable recipes are below. So easy to make…the crock pot does all the work for you.
I am going to challenge my beautiful grand daughter to make this recipe, because she is always trying something a little different with her recipes. Who knows what she might add to this recipe!
Love and hugs to all…..
- 4 chicken thighs
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 3 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, coarsely chopped (less, if you do not like hot and spicy)
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 cinnamon stick (or you can use 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon)
- 3 medium carrots, cut in half
- 1 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
- salt and pepper, to taste (I like lots of freshly ground black pepper)
- Combine the coconut milk, soy sauce, honey, chipotle chiles, ginger and garlic.
- You can mix this up in your crock pot
- Add the cinnamon stick, carrots, and bell pepper
- Take each piece of chicken and dip and coat in the sauce before nestling each piece in the bottom of your crock pot
- Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 4 hours. (I cooked mine on high and it was perfect)
- This can be served as is or over Jasmine Rice with Pomegranate Arils and Chick Peas.
- The Chick peas can be added to the chicken sauce after the chicken is cooked, but I prefer to add the chick peas to the rice after it is cooked. Just a matter of preference.
- 1 cup uncooked jasmine rice
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 cup water
- 1 can of drained chick peas, heated through
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1/4 cup roasted, salted pistachios, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup sliced toasted almonds
- zest from 1 orange
- Arils from one pomegranate
- salt and pepper to taste
- If you have safron on hand...add 1/2 teaspoon. Saffron is expensive so I wouldn't purchase it for just one dish. It makes the rice a pretty yellow color...and adds an Indian flavor to your rice.
- *If you do not own a rice cooker or you do not want to use boil-in-a-bag rice, then proceed to cook the rice in the coconut milk and water. The ratio is 2 parts liquid to one part rice.
- Bring the liquid to a low boil and add the rice and saffron if you are using.
- Mix well and cover the rice with a lid and lower the heat. (you don't want the rice water to boil up and over your pan...a real mess to clean up! 🙂
- Cook the rice for about 10 minutes and then remove from the heat with the lid still securely on the pan and let the rice continue cooking for about 15 more minutes. Do not open the lid or you will interrupt the process
- Remove the lid and fluff the rice with a fork...you can replace the lid until ready to serve but be sure and fluff again.
- Drain and heat the chick peas either in microwave or on top of the stove. (Actually, I added the chick peas to the fluffed rice, put the lid back on and let the heat from the rice heat the chick peas)
- To serve, add in the molasses, melted butter, pistachios, almonds, orange zest and the pomegranate arils to the rice and chick peas and serve immediately for optimum taste
- *You could use the boil-in-the-bag rice....when cooked in the microwave or on top of the stove, drain well and transfer to a saucepan, add the heated chick peas and 1/4 cup of the heated coconut milk, molasses, butter, orange zest and nuts and arils.
Please comment, I'd love to hear from you.