Home Cooking: Rockin' Moroccan Chicken and Polenta "Pizza"

Moroccan Chicken and Couscous

I was feeling inspired tonight by two recipes: one I had clipped from Parents Magazine and another I'd found in my Cooking Light Complete Meals in Minutes (yes, please!) cookbook. 

The Parents Magazine recipe is Moroccan Chicken from their "Out of the Box" series, circa June 2008.  I had stumbled upon it when cutting through old magazines for a menu the Bigger One was making for the play room.   It has only 7 ingredients (most are items from your pantry, one is from a box!) and it is really simple yet looks great when prepared.  The LOs helped me mix the cinnamon, cumin, and salt and then sprinkled on the chicken.  They also assisted with the stirring of the water, oil, and the Spice Sack from the couscous box.  Definitely good for group cooking as long as the kids are careful to keep their hands off the raw chicken.

We decided to rename the dish Rockin' Moroccan Chicken because it actually came out really well (according to the Carnivore).  The kids ate some (especially the Littler One) and they really dug the couscous (which is really the only "out of the box" part since it calls for Tomato Lentil couscous (ours was from Near East) with some wilted baby spinach.  The couscous/spinach combo actually gets a really nice cinnamon-y flavor since the spinach wilts in the pan where the chicken was cooked.  And the colors are quite beautiful!  This is definitely something we could make as a double batch and the Carnivore could bring the next day to work for lunch.  Health-wise, a serving contains 6 grams of fat and 341 calories with 3 grams of fiber. 

Of course, I wasn't sure how to extend the Moroccan Chicken recipe to include vegetarian me (Should I have used the spices on tofu?  Suggestions welcomed!) so instead I found a separate recipe that I would enjoy.  This is one of my food issues: planning meals that satisfy everyone's tastes, offer meat and veggie options under the same theme, are relatively healthy, and are simple to prepare.  Anyway,I combed through my Cooking Light Cookbook which I purchased last December with a holiday gift card.Polenta Gratin with Mushrooms and Fontina caught my eye.  I love polenta tubes from Trader Joe's but never know how to make it aside from slices up in a pan.  The LOs helped me arrange the sliced polenta in the baking dish but since most of the rest of the recipe involved heat and chopping, they weren't as involved in the prep as with the chicken dish.  I made a few changes to the recipe. One, I used fresh garlic instead of the bottled minced garlic since the jar I found at the store was sticky-looking and not very appetizing.  Nothing like the smell of fresh garlic in a hot pan but it did add to the prep time.  Also, I swapped the jarred Alfredo sauce for Newman's Own Five Cheese Sauce because it had fewer calories/less fat than the one jar of alfredo sauce I saw.  This changed the look and taste of the recipe but I actually think the tomato sauce was a better companion for the fresh basil.  Also, I shredded my own fontina cheese (technically, grated) which added to the prep time, too. 



Polenta Gratin with Mushrooms and Fontina (with some ingredient changes)

Still, this was another successful recipe tonight...the Bigger One dubbed it Polenta "Pizza" because of the sauce and cheese and mostly enjoyed it but the Littler One wasn't interested.  The Carnivore and I devoured it; fortunately it only yields 3 servings so I didn't have to feel too guilty.  It popped out of the oven looking like comforting food a mother would make, so I was feeling pretty high off of that.  However, it was also an "out of the box" kind of dish, since I used premade polenta and sauce.  Still, I was feeling like a cook tonight, the kids were digging the chef-y vibe, and the Carnivore was mighty satisfied.  I'm chalking tonight's meal up as a win for the Hungry Mom.

The Bigger One's plate before eating (polenta in upper left)