Laurie Gelman’s Moroccan Chicken and Chickpeas

I have watched Kelly & Ryan for a long time.  Actually, I watched Regis & Kathie Lee, before Kelly was even on the show.  The show’s producer is Michael German.  He has always been on camera a bit, mainly to be part of jokes that are told.  I remember when he married his wife, Laurie, too.  They have three children now!  Laurie has written two books lately, Class Mom and You’ve Been Volunteered.  I have not read either one yet, but I did purchase Class Mom.  Being a retired teacher, I think that they would both be fun reads. The review are great and say they are hilarious!  The cover of You’ve Been Volunteered has a woman with a patrol belt on, holding a stop sign.  If anyone knows me, that really made me laugh because I was a Patrol Sponsor for probably 20 years of my career. I have to read that book!  Laurie German was recently on Kelly & Ryan during their Mother’s Day cooking segments.  She made Moroccan Chicken and Chickpeas, which I am going to share today.  She served it over cauliflower rice, which is what I did, too.  It is a great weeknight dinner since it can be made very quickly.

Laurie Gelman’s Moroccan Chicken and Chickpeas

Ingredients:

• 2-3 pounds boneless chicken thighs (Note: Boneless chicken breasts may be used, but thighs are traditionally used in a recipe like this because of their flavor.)
• 1/2 teaspoon course salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric 
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped 
• 2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 4 cups of organic chicken stock 
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro 
• Optional: Harissa hot sauce (Note: Sounds delicious, but I didn’t use the hot sauce.)
• Serve over cauliflower rice. (Note: Brown rice could be substituted.)

Directions:

• Clean and wipe the chicken, pat dry, and cut into chunks.
• Mix together the salt, ginger, paprika, pepper, cumin, turmeric and cinnamon.
• Rub spice mixture onto chicken chunks.  Put chicken with spices in a ziplock bag and refrigerate for two hours.
• Melt butter and oil in a skillet.  Sauté onion and chicken pieces until they are golden brown.
• Add chickpeas and chicken stock into the pan, and simmer for one hour until chicken is tender.
• Sprinkle with chopped cilantro.
• For additional heat, drizzle with Harissa hot sauce (optional).
• Serve over cauliflower rice.

Full of Flavor!

The Moroccan Chicken and Chickpeas is a flavorful recipe.  All of the spices come together while it is simmering.  I promise that the cauliflower rice is under the chicken in the photo! I used frozen cauliflower rice from Green Giant.  It is delicious and saves a lot of time on a weeknight.  This recipe could be started overnight (placing the chicken thigh chunks with the spice mixture in the ziplock bag) and finished when you come home from work.  I hope you will try Laurie Gelman’s recipe and read her books, too!