Tagine Night

Some weeks I have more recipes I want to try than nights for cooking and then there are other weeks where I am just at a loss as to what to cook. This week fell into the latter category. So, I started perusing some of my cookbooks, magazines, and several websites looking for some inspiration. I ended up finding it online at Cooking Light’s website. I love my tagine that Russ gave me for Christmas, so when I ran across a recipe that not only used my tagine, but also sounded super tasty I was sold. So, tonight we tried an older CL recipe for Chicken Tagine with Lemons and Olives.

To start with you let the chicken marinate in a little bit of lemon juice for about 30 minutes. I did use boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead of thighs since I had some in the freezer that needed to be used. Once they have marinated then I cut them into large pieces and tossed them in the flour. Then I sprinkled the spice mixture (salt, pepper, cayenne, and tumeric) over them. Next you add a little oil to pan and brown the chicken on both sides. The chicken does not need to be cooked all the way through at this point, but I wanted it mostly cooked. Then set it aside and add a little more oil to the pan and sauté the onions, garlic, and ginger until they are soft. Next add the olives, lemon rind, cinnamon stick, and chicken to the pan. Finally add the chicken broth and bring it to a boil. Once it is boiling then you reduce the heat to a simmer and put the top on and let it slowly simmer away for about an hour. Once it is done you add the cilantro to it, however, I forgot to do this so we just topped ours with the cilantro. I served it over cous cous with a side of steamed broccoli.

This was very tasty and flavorful. I really liked the subtle lemon flavor and the tang from the green olives. It makes plenty of sauce which I liked and it was nice to put over the cous cous which soaked it up. The chicken was tender and flavorful. We both really enjoyed this recipe and while I did feel like I used a million bowls and plates while I was preparing it overall it was fairly simple to make. Russ rates the dish a 9.