Chicken Tagine with Apricots, Almonds & Chickpeas

This week in class is all about slow cookers also known as crock pots! Slow cookers are great because you can prepare everything the night before or the morning of, plug it in, go to work, and come home to a delicious dinner! Slow cookers get their name because that is exactly what they do, cook your foods very slowly for a long period of time. You can cook most meals in a slow cooker with a little bit of tweaking. Check out THIS post to find out 7 tips to convert your recipes to slow cooker recipes. This is a great quick and easy salad to serve with your slow cooked meal!

The recipe serves 6 - 8 people.

What you'll need

• Knife
• Cutting board
• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Large saucepan
• Slow cooker
• Mixing spoon
• Foil

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 3 Pounds chicken legs and thighs (about 4 each)
• 1 Yellow onion, diced
• 1 Carrot, peeled and diced
• 2 Cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Inch piece ginger root, peeled and minced
• 1 Teaspoon coriander
• 1 Teaspoon cumin
• 1 Teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 Cup chicken stock
• 1 Cup dried couscous
• 1/2 Cup dried apricots, roughly chopped
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 1/4 Cup almonds, roughly chopped
• 2 Cups (1 15 ounce can) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 Tablespoons cilantro, optional, for serving 

Directions

1. Warm one tablespoon of oil in a large saucepan or tagine over medium high heat until the oil flows easily and you can see it shimmering. Sprinkle the chicken pieces with salt and pepper, and place as many as will fit into the pan without crowding. 
2. Sear the chicken for 5 to 8 minutes, flipping once, until both sides are golden brown. This will help trap in some of the juiciness even after it's been in the slow cooker. 
3. Transfer the seared chicken directly to a slow cooker and continue searing the rest of the chicken pieces. If necessary add more oil to keep a thin film on the bottom of the pan. If the oil starts smoking, turn down the heat.







































4. Pour off all but a teaspoon of oil and return the pan to medium heat. Sauté the onions and carrots with a half teaspoon of salt until softened and beginning to brown. This will take about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant which will be about 30 seconds. Then sprinkle the ginger and spices over top and cook until fragrant which will take about 1 minutes.





5. Pour the onion mixture over the chicken and cover.
6. Stir the chicken stock and apricots into the pan, scraping up any seared bits that might be stuck to the bottom of the pan.
7. Cook for 4-6 hours on HIGH or until meat thermometer reads 165 degrees F when inserted into the thickest part of the meat.
8. Transfer the cooked chicken to a clean plate and cover with foil. Add the honey, almonds, and chickpeas to the pan with the apricots and onions, and increase the heat to medium-high. 
9. Bring the stew to a rapid simmer and cook until it has thickened slightly. Taste the sauce and add salt if necessary. 

This week we only made one slow cooker recipe with a salad, then prepared a slow cooker recipe to be cooked the next day, and then one more slow cooker recipe as a take home challenge recipe. Curious about them? Click on any of them below and you can see their recipes!

• Honey and Chili Chicken Thighs
• Green Goddess Salad
• Chicken Tagine with Apricots, Almonds & Chickpeas
• Collard Greens Stew with Meat and Garlic 

And as always if you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them below!