Moroccan Olive Chicken with Rice

I decorated the table!! I'm pretty sure this is my first themed dinner that I've posted. Normally, I'm busy chasing my toddler around the house and the table is neglected. The other night, she was being a little angel so I was able to step it up a bit. :) The meal is Moroccan style. The sauce with the chicken is strong, so you may want to adjust that to your taste. I actually only made it with 2 chicken breasts, so I reserved a tablespoon or so of spice for another day. If you use 3 chicken breasts then you should be fine. The sauce should reduce down and become pretty thick. I served it over Persian rice with a side of pickled beets (a prego lady MUST).

By the way, I'm sick again. Can you believe it?? I've never had so many illness in my life. I usually don't catch a lot, but this year is not a good one in terms of health. I have a sore throat and now it's becoming a cough. Does anyone have a natural, pregnant lady safe remedy? My poor husband has been doing everything for Mimi and I without one complaint. He gets up 10 thousand times to get food, drinks, medicine, or just this and that. Mimi is sick as well, but not nearly as bad, thank goodness. Anyway, I am just so thankful to have such an amazing husband.

Oh yes, and one more note. I did not use fancy brand olives. I just bought a jar of each with pits, that's it.

Moroccan Olive Chicken with Rice

Serving Size = 3

• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 2 teaspoons turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional, for more heat)
• A pinch of allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon or less freshly grated nutmeg (roughly, I didn't measure)
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup zucchini, chopped into big chunks
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup chickpeas
• 3 roma tomatoes, chopped
• 1 onion, diced (I kept the pieces pretty big)
• 1 cup mushroom broth (chicken broth would be fine, I just had mushroom broth that needed to be used)
• 1/2 cup green olives (with pits)
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives (with pits)
• Salt/Pepper to taste (be careful with the salt since the olives will add some)

1. Place some extra virgin olive oil into a stock pot over medium heat. Place the onions into the hot stockpot first, and then the chicken, followed by all of the spices (not the parsley) and garlic. Let it cook for a few minutes and then add the chicken or mushroom stock and tomatoes. Cover and let it cook for roughly 30 minutes and then add the zucchini. 
2. Continue to cook until the sauce starts to thicken and the chicken is cooked through (turn the chicken at least once during the cooking process). Remove the lid and add the chickpeas, parsley and lemon zest. Once the sauce has thickened and everything is cooked, add the olives and stir, cook for about 10 minutes and then add the lemon juice. Serve over rice (I cooked 1 cup of long grain white rice Persian style, but I would recommend at least 2 cups of rice).

*Note: You might actually need more broth if the mixture starts to look dry while cooking. Also, depending on how many chicken breasts you use, you might want to add less of the spice mixture. I started by adding all of the spices to a small bowl and with 2 chicken breasts, I had roughly 1 tablespoons leftover which I saved for later. You could easily stretch the spice mixture out to 3 or 4 chicken breasts depending on how much spice you like (and by spice, I don't mean heat).

Linking to: Foodie Friday, Friday Potluck