Moroccan Chicken with Eggplant, Tomato & a Pile of Spices!

What a hit, this easy chicken dinner, a favorite whenever a plump and pretty eggplant jumps into the grocery cart. The meat itself is moist and flavorful, the eggplant and tomato sauce perfumed with Moroccan-style spices. And yes, I do wish it were prettier but the flavors are so rich, the whole experience so comforting ...

Real Food, Fresh & Flexible. Spiced Not "Spicy". Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Spare the Dishwasher: Just One Skillet. Weight Watchers Friendly. Naturally Gluten Free. High Protein. Great for Meal Prep.

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BEST RECIPES!

• Moroccan Chicken Made the List!
• Best Recipes of 2005

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A Model or a Muddle?

Are your spices a model of management or a muddle of a mess?

My personal spice system (is orderly confusion a system?) dates back to my first apartment with its supermarket skillets and single cupboard.

And it’s worked great until recently: those neat little Tone’s red and green containers simply aren’t big enough any more. I'm using way more spices, way way more spices!

Spices give your taste buds a vigorous workout. Doubling, even tripling, the spices make a food taste, well, bigger – and importantly, bigger but not fatter.

Moroccan Chicken is redolent with the depth of paprika and the bite of ginger, the musk of fennel and the heft of cumin, all lifted up by the bright contrast of lemon. It’s simply pungent with flavor.

Try increasing the spices – and dropping the fat – with your own favorite recipes. They may surprise you!

Perfumed with Moroccan-Style Spices

Yes, that's a lot of spices!

But I don't recommend cutting back the quantity. With fewer spices, the dish can actually be a little bland. It's supposed to be warm with these beautiful spices.

My recipe notes read, "So many spices! But not hot, just lovely."

And I don't know about you but I'd rather have a long list of spices and a very small pile of dirty dishes!

What's In Moroccan Chicken? Everyday Ingredients!

In all my recipes and most well-written recipes, every ingredient serves a purpose. Each one matters. Each one contributes to the overall dish. It's not that an ingredient can't be substituted by something else but when choosing the substitute, it's important to understand why the original ingredient was present in the first place.

• Chicken is the protein, it's simmered in the eggplant-tomato-spice sauce. I really prefer chicken thighs in a dish like this, they're just sweeter and more tender than chicken breasts. That said? I'd totally use the meat from a rotisserie chicken, adding it near the end.
• Eggplant makes up the bulk of the sauce. It's roasted first, that gives the eggplant a headstart before it ends up in the skillet. Other vegetables could be used but the dish will be completely different. Butternut squash? Yes. Mushrooms? Yes I think so. What else comes to mind for you???
• Tomato Canned tomatoes for the win! Could you switch to tomatillos? Yes, I think so.
• Moroccan Spices Paprika (we especially love pimentón, the smoky Spanish paprika) + whole fennel seed + turmeric + coriander + cumin + ginger + salt & pepper
• Lemon Juice Ahhh, lemon juice. It adds such brightness. Don't skimp or skip!

You Might Wonder Be Wondering ...

Can Moroccan Chicken Be Made Ahead of Time? Yes. In fact, like many dishes of this sort, the flavors actually meld over 12 to 24 hours. But don't worry, it doesn't have to be made ahead of time. It's good straight off and made in advance.

What If I Don't Have All Those Spices? I hear you, it's quite a list. If you're missing one or two spices, just substitute with more of one of the others.

Is There a Spice Blend That Would Come Close to the Individual Spices? The only one I can think of is curry, which in itself is a spice blend.

Can I Substitute Beef for Chicken? This is on my list to make! I think it would be really good.

What If I Don't Like Eggplant? Hmmm, how is that possible? :-) Seriously. If you don't yet consider yourself an "eggplant person" then know that my husband and I convert people all the time! In a dish like this, you'll hardly know the eggplant is even present, in part because it cooks so long but mostly because the eggplant's delicate almost neutral flavors are so secondary to the prevalence of the spices.

What Makes This Recipe Special

• Everyday ingredients turned into a tasty one-skillet meal
• Healthy chicken and vegetables packed with rich spices
• A full meal from a single pot, just add rice and oh, comfort food


• Ready to get started? Here's your recipe!

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MOROCCAN CHICKEN

Hands-on time: 25 minutes prep, then occasional attention until ready
Time to table: 60 minutes
Serves 4

EGGPLANT
• 1 pound eggplant, cubed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

SPICE BLEND
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika or pimentón, the smoky Spanish paprika
• 2 teaspoons whole fennel seed
• 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

SAUCE & CHICKEN
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• Spice Blend
• 28 ounces canned diced tomatoes
• 1 cup chicken stock or Homemade Vegetable Bouillon
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice (from about 1-1/2 lemons)
• 1-1/2 pound chicken thighs (bone-in) or 1 pound (boneless) chicken thighs, skin removed and fat trimmed
• Roasted Eggplant

• Chopped cilantro

ROAST EGGPLANT Set oven at 400F/200C. Toss the eggplant cubes in 1 tablespoon olive oil until evenly coated. Arrange in single layer on baking sheet and bake 25-30 minutes (no need to wait for oven to fully heat) or until light brown.

SPICE BLEND Mix all the spices.

MAKE SAUCE Heat a Dutch oven on medium high, heat the second tablespoon olive oil until shimmery. Add onion and garlic and stir to coat with fat; sauté until golden. Add the Spice Blend, stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, broth and lemon juice and bring to a boil.

SIMMER SAUCE & CHICKEN ON STOVE Reduce the heat, add the chicken thighs, cover and simmer 15 minutes. Turn the thighs over, cover, simmer another 10 minutes. Add the Roasted Eggplant, simmer 10 minutes uncovered.

TO SERVE Top with cilantro and serve with White Rice or Oven-Baked Rice or something else for soaking up the fragrant juices.

OVEN OPTION If you have a tagine like this one, make the chicken in that. My idea would be to mix the tomato mixture and the roasted eggplant, nestle the chicken thighs in, then cover and bake at 350F/175C for 45 minutes.

MAKE-AHEAD Like many stews, this is very good when eaten straight off the stove but a day of refrigeration helps meld the flavors and slightly thicken the sauce. Plan for leftovers!

ALANNA's TIPS Before making this dish, take a deep whiff of each spice. Does it smell a little dusty? It may be time for a replacement. As written, MOROCCAN CHICKEN reheats and freezes beautifully. But you might also cook ahead and freeze just the sauce, adding the meat and eggplant for a fast supper another night. There's plenty of tomato and eggplant sauce for two pounds of chicken so for a meatier dish, double the chicken! Substitute chicken breasts if that’s what’s on hand but really, do look for skinless, boneless chicken thighs. Thighs are often less expensive and always more flavorful. Common wisdom coaches us to avoid dark meat but the nutrition differences are minimal. Try a thigh! For summer versions, I like to add fresh corn and okra. Fresh tomatoes work find but aren't special. Canned tomatoes just have a certain tomato-y-ness that's hard for even wonderful home-grown tomatoes to match. I'm always pleased when I remake an early recipe from Kitchen Parade and am instantly reminded why it belongs in my recipe collection. This is definitely one! The eggplant and tomato sauce is just so good, it's "spicy" but not "spicy-hot" – just full of flavor. Tis a winner!

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Serving (1 thigh, 1-1/2 cups sauce): 306 Calories; 11g Tot Fat; 2g Sat Fat: 94mg Cholesterol; 638mg Sodium; 26g Carb; 9g Fiber; 10g Sugars; 27g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS Old Points 6 & PointsPlus 7 & SmartPoints 9 & Freestyle 4 & myWW green 4 & blue 4 & purple 4 This recipe has been "Alanna-sized".

Adapted from Bon Appetit, February 2004

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More Chicken Comfort Food

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More Inspiration for Moroccan Recipes

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~ more Moroccan recipes ~

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Shop Your Pantry First

(helping home cooks save money on groceries)

~ more chicken recipes ~
~ eggplant ~
~ lemons ~

~ All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
~ How to Save Money on Groceries ~

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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