Harissa and Capsicum Chicken with Chickpea Couscous
“This is delicious! You can definitely make this again”, was the report I got from my husband when I served this up for dinner the other night.
And I agree, it was deeeelicious!
Every month in delicious magazine food blogger Katie Quinn Davies provides not only some great recipes, but also some amazing photos of her food (trust me, it is hard to photograph food as I have found out since starting this blog. Just look at my pics – hmmmmm!).
This is the first of her recipes I have tried (although I have drooled over many others). I was so impressed and will definitely be trying more.
I have to admit, I have trouble following a recipe exactly, but this is pretty close and it was really only due to not having some of the original listed ingredients.
First, I didn’t have and couldn’t find harissa, but knowing that it is a paste made from chillies, garlic, cumin and coriander, I just added the fresh chilli and ground cumin and coriander (thus harissa is not listed in my ingredients list).
I always like to add vegetables wherever I can, so I added a few zucchinis, which worked really well.
I had wholegrain couscous (which is available in the supermarket) but only 1/2 cup left (recipe calls for 3/4 cup) but I found that there was plenty of couscous.
The original recipe uses almonds with the couscous, but we didn’t have any, so I replaced them with pistachios, which added a lovely green colour to the couscous (I LOVE pistachios!).
And I used coriander in place of parsley in the couscous as I didn’t have any parsley left in the garden because our ducks had been eating it!.
The original recipe suggests that it serves 2. We included greens on the side and found that we got two meals out of it, so I have suggested it serves 4. The greens we included were broccoli, beans and spinach which I sautéed in a little olive oil and garlic. They were delicious and a fantastic side that teamed well with the chicken and couscous.
This was a most delicious and satisfying meal that I will definitely be making again. Thanks Katie!
- 1½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small brown onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 3 red capsicums, cut into 2cm pieces
- 6 chicken thigh fillets (approx. 500g), trimmed and cut into thirds
- ½ long red chilli, deseeded and chopped
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin, plus ½ teaspoon extra
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- 2 zucchinis (250g), sliced in half lengthways, then cut into ½cm widths
- 1 teaspoon Massel vegetable stock powder
- ½ cup wholegrain couscous*
- 400g can chickpeas rinsed, drained
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- juice of ½ lemon
- ⅓ cup fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup pistachios, toasted and roughly chopped
- Heat a large frypan over medium heat. Add 2 teaspoons of oil, onion and garlic and cook, stirring for 3-4 minutes until softened.
- Stir in capsicum and chicken and cook for 10 minutes until chicken is browned.
- Add chilli, ½ teaspoon of cumin and coriander and sauté for 2 minutes, then add 150ml water.
- Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered for 30 minutes.
- Remove chicken. pour capsicum and liquid into a blender and blend until smooth.
- Wipe out the pan, return to medium-high heat. When hot add 1 teaspoon of oil and the zucchini and sauté for 3-4 minutes until lightly browned.
- Return chicken to the pan along with the capsicum puree and the vegetable stock powder.
- Simmer for 10 minutes until the sauce is slightly thickened.
- Meanwhile, boil the kettle. Place couscous in a medium sized bowl. Pour ½ cup boiling water over the couscous, cover with gladwrap and set aside.
- Heat frypan over medium heat. When hot, add 2 teaspoons of oil and chickpeas and cook, stirring or tossing for 2 minutes or until they start to brown.
- Add cinnamon and extra cumin and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant.
- Remove wrap from couscous and fluff with a fork. Add to pan along with lemon juice and toss for 2 minutes to heat through.
- Remove from heat, add 2 teaspoons of olive oil, ¼ teaspoon salt and coriander and stir through until well combined.
- Transfer to serving bowl and sprinkle with pistachios, then serve with chicken and extra greens.
Per Serve: 1959kJ or 466 calories; P 33g Fat 21g SFat 4g CHO 34g Fibre 7g
*For gluten free option: replace couscous with quinoa.
To cook quinoa: Rinse 3/4 cup of quinoa in a sieve. Add rinsed quinoa to a saucepan that has a good fitting lid along with 1 cup of cold water. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and cook covered for 15 minutes. Allow to rest for about 10 minutes before removing lid and using a fork to fluff it up. Makes approx 2 cups of cooked quinoa.
