Chicken Tagine

When I go clothes shopping, I invariably end up thinking my clothes, the cloths I'm wearing, are dull, worn, and frumpy.

It doesn't matter if my clothes are chic and pressed.  They can't compete with crisp, new clothes.

When I was a kid, I despised shopping for clothes.  Before school started, my mother, siblings, and I would spend a whole day buying new shoes and school clothes.  It was exhausting.  

Now I make clothes shopping more palatable by doing it in short spurts.  I don't spend more than two hours browsing and trying on clothes.

This recipe was fantastic.  It could be the best recipe I have posted for a month.  It came from allrecipes, but I made several adjustments.  I added dried apricots, cinnamon, tumeric, cumin, ground ginger, artichoke hearts, and a little cornstarch to thicken the stew.

The ingredients are 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 skinless and boneless chicken thighs, 1 small onion, 3 cloves garlic, 1 small butternut squash, 1 15.5 ounce can garbanzo beans, 1 carrot, 1 14.5 ounce can dished tomatoes, 1 14 ounce can chicken broth, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 lemon, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 1 dash cayenne pepper, 1/2 cup dried apricots, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon tumeric, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1 14 ounce can artichoke hearts, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, and 2 tablespoons water.  Whew, what a list!

I heat the olive oil in a sauté pan with high sides over medium heat.  I added the onion, garlic, and chopped chicken for 15 minutes until everything had browned.  Pictures of raw chicken are pretty unappetizing.  

I added the pealed and cubed butternut squash and the drained can of garbanzo beans.

I added the undrained tomatoes and drained artichoke hearts.

I added the carrots.  I had baby carrots instead of a large carrot.  I used about a cup of chopped baby carrots.  I added the broth, but I don't have a picture of it.

I added all the spices.  The spices are coriander, cayenne, cinnamon, tumeric, cumin, and ground ginger.

I added the salt, sugar, and all the juice from a lemon.  I let this simmer.  All the ingredients need to simmer for a total of 30 minutes.

After 15 minutes of simmering, I combined the cornstarch and water.  I stirred it until there were no lumps.  I stirred the cornstarch slurry into the pot.

After another five minutes, I added 1/2 a cup of chopped, dried apricots.  

After the tagine had simmered for a total of 30 minutes, it was ready.  The vegetables were tender.

I let it cool for a little bit, but then I dug right in.

This is savory, aromatic, and flavorful.  It is warm, exotic, and amazing!

It's truly one of my favorites. It's toothsome in every way.

All the spices merry and meld together well.  The apricots swell up in the broth and become soft.  The are little bursts of sweetness in the savory and spicy stew.

 It's so easy to make.  You just put all the ingredients into a pot and let it simmer.  It's a perfect weeknight meal.

 I'll make this again for sure!