Moroccan Chicken and Olives

If there is one reason (aside from our son) that I am most thankful for meeting J. it's for this chicken. He and his roommate from college (and childhood friend, to boot) came up with this yummy recipe when they were missing their mommy's homemade Moroccan food (because J. is, of course, Moroccan).

Ingredients:

2 1/2 large onions (or 2 large 1 small, as you see pictured)
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch cilantro
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. cumin
1 Tbsp. veg. oil
juice of 1 lime
salt & pepper
4 large chicken breasts (the orignal recipes calls for a cut-up fryer chicken, but we're figure friendly around here)
1 C. water
4 chicken bouillon cubes
2 small jars green onions
1 loaf of French Bread or bolillos for serving

Let's Get Cookin':

1.) I use a food processor for this, but you're more than welcome to get your dice on! Chop up into a chunky paste (think picante sauce) your onions, garlic, parsley, and cilantro. Then, mix in your salt, pepper, turmeric, cumin, oil, and the juice of half your lime. Put that all into a big soup pot.

2.) Turn the heat on high and add in your chicken breasts, 1 C. water, and bouillon. Put a lid on it and let the pot of yummy stuff come to a hard rolling boil. Then turn the heat down to about medium-low (setting 3 or 4 on my electric stove) and let it simmer until the chicken is about done (I let it go about 30 minutes so it's tender). When you turn the heat down to medium-low, go ahead and preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

After you add the chicken

After you add the water

The thick yummy rolling boil of goodness

3.) Take the chicken out of the pot of goodness and put it on a foil lined baking sheet. Then stick it in that waiting oven. In the mean time, add your olives plus their juice to the pot on the stove and crank up the heat til the pot of yummy is rockin' and rollin' ... or just, ya know, a rolling bubble.

The cooked chicken waiting to get a tan in the oven

The olive sauce -pre rolling boil and thick yummy-ness

4.) After about 5 minutes, add your bread to the oven to get warm and crusty. 5 minutes after that take the chicken and bread out of the oven. By this time your olive sauce should be nice and thick.

That beautiful chicken breast after the oven

5.) Here's how you serve it. We eat a small dinner salad on the side.

Happy eating!!