Moroccan Chicken with Eggplant, Tomato & a Pile of Spices

One of my favorite resources, Veggie Venture/Kitchen Parade led me to this awesome recipe. This is the second week in a row that I am making it. It is that good! Link to recipe here.


Lisa's Notes:

• It is a bit time intensive for prep, but if you are organized everything comes together well.
• This is a nice one pot meal with minimal clean up.
• Pairs particularly well with cous cous.
• I've used both bone-in and boneless thighs. Either one works well.
• I let it cook about 20 min longer than the recipe calls for because I am paranoid about chicken being cooked all the way through.
• I used a cup of chicken broth instead of stock.
• I used my 4.5 qt Dutch oven

MOROCCAN CHICKEN

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

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

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

• Chopped cilantro

ROAST EGGPLANT Set oven at 400F. Toss eggplant 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.
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 spices, stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, broth and lemon juice and bring to a boil.
COOK Reduce heat, add chicken thighs, cover and simmer 15 minutes. Turn thighs over, cover, simmer another 10 minutes. Add eggplant, simmer 10 minutes uncovered.
To serve, top with cilantro and serve with Oven-Baked Rice or something else that will soak up the fragrant juices.