Moroccan Chicken Salad
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2teaspoons ground cumin
- 1teaspoon hot Spanish paprika
- 1teaspoon salt
- 6skinless bone-in chicken thighs
- 6tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ⅓cup dry white wine
- 1large red bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut in 2-by-½-inch strips
- ½cup thinly sliced onion
- 2small zucchini, ends trimmed, quartered lengthwise and sliced ½-inch thick
- 16small pitted green olives
- 1½teaspoons harissa
- ¼cup lemon juice
- 1½teaspoons honey
- ½preserved lemon, flesh removed and peel minced
- ¾cup instant couscous
- ½cup fresh mint leaves in chiffonade
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
1024 calories; 71 grams fat; 16 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 36 grams monounsaturated fat; 13 grams polyunsaturated fat; 38 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 54 grams protein; 1003 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Combine cumin, paprika and ½ teaspoon salt in a shallow bowl, and lightly coat chicken with spices. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a sauté pan. Sear chicken on medium-high about 90 seconds on the “skin” side, turn, add wine, reduce heat to very low, cover and braise 25 minutes. Remove chicken and juices to a clean bowl.
- Step 2
Add bell pepper and onion to the pan and sauté on low about 10 minutes, until softened. Add zucchini and olives and sauté until zucchini starts to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in harissa, lemon juice, honey and 3 tablespoons olive oil. Remove from heat.
- Step 3
Using your fingers and a paring knife, remove chicken from the bones and tear meat in strips. Place chicken and juices in a bowl, along with vegetable mixture from the sauté pan and preserved lemon peel. Toss ingredients together and set aside.
- Step 4
Heat remaining tablespoon of oil in a 2-quart saucepan. Add couscous and remaining salt and stir over low heat 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in 1¼ cups boiling water, stir, cover and set aside 15 minutes. Uncover, fluff couscous with a fork, stir over low heat a few minutes to dry it, then fold in half the mint. Transfer chicken to a serving platter, scatter with remaining mint and serve with couscous in a bowl alongside, all at room temperature.
Private Notes
Comments
Comforting, full flavored, hearty yet not heavy: it's a great dish, a bit time consuming (took me 90-minutes start-to-finish) but quite good. The chicken alone has a delicious preparation - probably worth cooking just that component sometime - and the full dish could become a standby. Two notes: I doubled the amount of salt rubbed into the chicken, and still found that I added some salt to the full dish at the end. Also, adding mint to the couscous made the leaves turn black. Avoid that!
This salad was wonderful. Husband made happy noises throughout. There are several steps, but the salad’s being served at room temperature means one can make it a bit ahead. The only tiny change I made was to add tarragon to the herb mixture, because I hadn’t enough mint.
It's a satisfying and affordable meal. The mint really makes this dish! I do wish I had used the thighs called for, but I only had chicken breast. Cooked gently in the wine, however, it was not dry at all; I also had to omit the harissa, due to family members who can't tolerate spice, but again I'm sure it's tastier with it. Pro tip: reserve the chicken braising liquid and use it (along with extra chicken broth) to cook the couscous.
Mint very required but tasty
Great main entree salad. Substantial. Loved the layers of flavor. I made one adjustment before adding the veg to the shredded chicken and that was to gently rub the preserved lemon peel into the chicken before adding the veg in step 3. Also a little of the mint, too.
Definitely needs a lot more salt. Would also recommend adding cayenne pepper & garlic