Moroccan Inspired Chicken: A Meal for Multiple Senses
I was so excited for this Moroccan inspired chicken dish. Excited beyond measure. It started with this recipe for Homemade Moroccan Spice Blend that I found while searching Pinterest one evening. I had all the ingredients, and the combination of spices, the aroma of that alone was intoxicating.
After that I came across this recipe for Moroccan Chicken which just looked so beautiful. I had some chicken thighs and drumsticks I had been meaning to use, and this would be the perfect recipe for that.
I seasoned the chicken with the spice blend and let it sit in a bowl for 2 hours prior to starting to cook everything. I did transfer everything to a new pan when it was time to go in the oven, as even though I’ve had these pans forever, I’m really not sure if it’s oven safe or not. Better safe than sorry.
This dish filled the house with such an amazing aroma. Be it the spices on the chicken, maybe the spices in the broth with the lemon, I don’t know. What I do know is that until this was ready to go, I was STARVING!
Side Dishes
I brainstormed for sides. Rice seemed inevitable. Is there a specific style of Moroccan rice? I found this recipe for Moroccan Rice Pilaf and used it as my inspiration for the dish below.
Problem – I don’t have some of the ingredients…we are under a stay at home order, and I don’t really care to brave the stores.
Solution – Substitute!
I didn’t have Basmati Rice, what I did have was long grain brown rice. They are not at all the same, and I really should have thought this through. The long grain rice, should have had some more time on the stove, or a soak for a few hours beforehand. Instead because I was winging it, I just pulled it out of the oven, stirred it, and stuck it back in for another 20 minutes.
We had no almonds or raisins, not a problem. My solution was to substitute something not at all similar but that I noticed in other recipes I viewed before choosing this one…tomatoes. I had a can of rotel that I drained and added to the rice prior to putting it in the oven.
The rice came out delicious. A great combination of an hour of searching through Moroccan Rice recipes.
I was super excited for the chicken and the rice. But it needed just something more. I was inspiring my meal by watching Mark Wiens in his trip to Morocco. If you’re unfamiliar with him and love food, be sure to check his channel out.
So I made this Moroccan Inspired Cucumber Salad which perfectly accompanied this meal with it’s light lemon and olive oil dressing.
This was a delicious experiment in food. After this quarantine mess is over, I’d love to find somewhere to try Moroccan food and see how close I got it.
Matt’s only request was to use chicken breast next time instead of the drumstick and thighs. Fair enough; however, he does love bone in wings, so I’m not sure about that one….
