Moroccan Spiced Chicken and Fennel with Quinoa

Tonight I stopped by my parents house and offered to cook dinner. Initially I had planned on a lamb with fennel, but decided to switch it up and found a really tasty sounding recipe from Recipe Zaar. The recipe included the all important ingredient: Fennel. During dinner my dad wondered when fennel became such a trendy popular ingredient. I, like him, don’t remember eating a lot of dishes with fennel a couple years ago. While I am puzzled in this turn of events as well, I don’t mind because I find fennel, when cooked right, to be delicious.

As most of my meals are being prepared for my vegetarian fiancee, I had to include tofu in the recipe. I’m including the ingredients for both (really its just an added brick of tofu) the tofu and the chicken. The only thing you have to worry about is having another burner for the extra pan. The chicken portion serves four, and the tofu feeds another two.

My sister, also eating dinner tonight, is allergic to gluten and therefore I wanted to find a starch/side that she could eat. While in Peru, I ate a lot of quinoa and decided to add that to the recipe (which initially called for a side of couscous). I think that Quinoa might be added to my list of tasty sides, as it has protein and is very healthy. I also made some asparagus in the oven for additional green goodness.

(short recipe at end)

On a side note, the pictures for this meal didn’t come out too well in my parents kitchen. Or at least they came out worse than they normally are. Learning the art of food photography is something I’m still learning. I hope the recipe can speak for itself.

Ingredients:

Serves 6 (4 chicken, 2 tofu portion)
Adapted from Recipe Zaar
Printable recipe

2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp sea salt
pepper to taste
1 lbs boneless chicken breasts
~ 2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium fennel bulbs, chopped
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 1/2 cup lime juice
2/3 cup chicken stock
3 tsp cornstarch
1 1/2 tbsp water

Combine spices with about 1/4 tsp pepper and half the salt. Cut tofu into slices and then again lengthwise to form squares and pat dry. Cut chicken breasts in half, if they are large and pat dry. Season chicken and tofu on both sides.

Heat one smaller pan with 1 tbsp oil and one large dutch oven or deep skillet with 1 tbsp oil, over medium heat. Add chicken to large pan and tofu to smaller pan. Cook about 8-10 minutes, for both, until chicken almost cooked through and tofu begins to brown. Set aside.

Add about 1/3 of the fennel and onion to smaller pan from tofu and the rest to the larger dutch oven. Cook for about 6-7 minutes, until fennel is tender. Add about 1 tbsp water to each if it is too dry, but avoid any steaming.

Boil 2 cups of water with one cup of quinoa. Once boiling, reduce to simmer for about 15-20 minutes, or until all water evaporated (follow box instructions).

Add lime juice, stock, 1/4 tsp salt to each pan, distribute in same ratio, about 1/3 into tofu pan and the rest into dutch oven. Don’t worry about being exact. Bring both to a boil for 1 minute, then reduce heat to medium. While boiling, mix corn starch with 1 1/2 tbsp water. Add to each pan, stir and allow each to thicken, about 3 minutes.

Return chicken and tofu to their respective pans, cover, and cook for about 2-3 more minutes, to ensure chicken is cooked through.

Serve with quinoa.

Enjoy!!