Chicken Breasts with Fennel, Carrots, and Couscous
- Comments()
Body+Soul, April 2009
- Prep Time 15 minutes
- Total Time 30 minutes
- Yield Serves 4
Add to Shopping List
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless free-range chicken breasts (6 to 8 ounces each)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
- Coarse salt and ground pepper
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 fennel bulb, trimmed, cored, and thinly sliced
- 3 large carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2/3 cup dried apricots, chopped
- 1/2 cup oil-cured pitted black olives, halved
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 2 cups cooked couscous
Directions
-
Rub chicken with 1/2 teaspoon paprika; season with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Cook chicken until lightly browned, about 3 minutes per side; transfer to a plate.
-
Reduce heat to medium. Add 1 tablespoon oil, fennel, and carrots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender-crisp and lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon paprika and cumin; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until spices are fragrant, about 1 minute.
-
To skillet, add reserved chicken along with any accumulated juices, apricots, olives, orange juice, and broth. Cover and simmer until vegetables are soft and chicken is opaque throughout, about 12 to 15 minutes. Serve with couscous.
Simple, tasty
Simple, tasty
As a regular couscous maker, I suggest adding some tumeric to the sauce with the spices to add color and up the dish's nutritional value. Skip the apricots and orange juice in the sauce but toss some raisins and toasted almonds on the finished dish. Couscous is made of hard grained Durham wheat.
FYI: Couscous is not a whole grain. It's a pasta made from wheat flour. You can buy whole wheat couscous, but it's still flour.