Cinnamon Spiced Israeli Couscous with Chicken

When I’m crunched for time I love making one-pot meals that have a good balance of protein, complex carbs, and fruits and vegetables.  This dish is great for when you have company over as well because it serves about 4 people, and you can save the left overs in an air tight container in the fridge for a couple days.  I usually make it on fall evenings, but you can make it year round because the ingredients aren’t seasonal.

Prep Time 15 minutes + Cooking Time 15 minutes =  30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1-2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 cup Israeli couscous
• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1 inch pieces) (I’m a bit of an organic fiend so I usually buy organic chicken breasts and I also find they make dishes like this taste better.  You can also skip using chicken altogether and serve this as a vegetarian side.)
• 1 medium sweet vidalia onion (diced) (I like to use vidalia instead of yellow because the sweetness of it mirrors the sweetness of the rest of the dish.)
• 1 garlic clove minced (optional)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (Tip: substitute with 1 tbsp unsalted butter if you want a richer dish more flavorful dish, which is sometimes nicer for a hearty fall meal.)
• 1-2 gala or fuji apples (cored & diced – leave the skin on)
• 1/2 cup dates (pitted and diced)
• 1 cup water (Tip: if you want to enhance the chicken-y flavor of the dish use low-sodium chicken broth instead of water.)
• 1/2 chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)
• handful of sliced almonds (optional)

Directions

1. Heat a deep pan to medium heat and add olive oil (or butter).
2. Once the olive oil has been heated (or butter melted) add onion,  garlic, and saute for about 3 minutes until the onion is clear.  (Tip: when sweating onions don’t  over stir, just occasionally stir them around.)
3. Add cinnamon to the sauteed onion and garlic.
4. Add diced chicken and cook until white not brown (5-7 minutes) (Tip: to avoid overcooking and drying out the chicken once its white move onto the the next step. The chicken will finish cooking as you cook the couscous.)
5. Season with a little sea salt and fresh ground pepper
6. Add diced apple and dates and saute for about 1 minute
7. Add couscous and roast dry for about 1 minute
8. Add about 1 cup water to the couscous (or as directed on the package of couscous), may need more water depending on how thick you want the mixture to be.
9. Cook until couscous is done.
10. If you want add a little more texture to the dish throw in a handful of sliced almonds once the couscous is done cooking.
11. I know not everyone loves cilantro so you can leave it out, or use it as a garnish by adding it once you’re done cooking and right before you serve the dish.

You can serve this dish with a light salad or steamed green beans, but I find that its a pretty balanced meal on its own. Bon Apetit 🙂

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