Cumin Chicken with Spinach Couscous

Cumin Chicken with Spinach Couscous could very easily be a one pot dish which makes it even more special.  It comes together in no time and the use of pearl couscous elevates this dish as special for guests as it is for a weeknight dinner.

I like to cook the pearl couscous separately and then add it to the chicken broth at the end to eliminate complications of over cooking or undercooking.  You can cook the couscous together with the dish but I prefer to do it separate so I don’t have to worry about timing it precisely enough to cook it perfectly.

The nice thing about this dish is the cumin combined with the chicken broth and thyme come together for warm comforting flavor.   I made this with bone in as bone in will always result in the most flavor when simmered.  The longer the bone in is simmering on low heat the more flavorful it becomes.  You can use easily substitute with boneless and it will still taste delicious.  Because we’re cooking this dish in a broth it will still result in deep flavors even if using boneless.

Pearl couscous is always a special treat because it’s different.  It’s chewy in texture and is a perfect cross between pasta and rice.  It’s larger than the traditional couscous and is referred to as “mograbiah” or “maftoul”. in the Middle East.  In general, the slightly smaller shaped is called maftoul and the slightly larger one is called mograbiah.

You can easily make this dish with a few changes but still achieve similar great outcome

1. substitute bone in with boneless
2. add kale instead of spinach
3. omit the chicken and make it’ll make for a wonderful side dish rich from the broth and cumin

I have a couple of couscous recipes on the site including this great refreshing feta pearl couscous salad , or this arugula avocado couscous salad 

or this wonderful honey couscous side dish.

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Cumin Chicken with Spinach Couscous

Author: Nadia Hubbi

Ingredients

• 5 large bone in skin on chicken thighs can be substituted with boneless and skinless
• 1 medium onion sliced
• 2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 Tablespoons extra virgin oil separated
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 cup sliced fresh spinach can substitute with frozen, thawed and water squeezed out spinach
• 2 cups broth
• 1 tablespoon flour

Pearl Couscous

• 1 cup pearl couscous
• 1 tsp butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cup water

Instructions

Pearl couscous

1. Toast cousous in butter for 2-3 minutes

2. Remove, set aside

3. Bring 1 1/2 cup salted water to a boil

4. Add couscous, cover on low heat for 15 minutes

Cumin Chicken

1. Season thighs with salt, pepper, cumin, and thyme
2. Add half oil to skillet and brown the chicken until 70% cooked through
3. Set aside
4. In same pan, add remaining oil, onions and garlic

5. On low medium heat until onions and garlic soften, 5-7 minutes, stir occasionaly

6. Return chicken back to pan

7. Whisk broth and flour together and Add to pan

8. Cover and cook through for 30 minutes on medium heat
9. uncover, make sure chicken is cooked through
10. Add spinach
11. Adjust salt if needed
12. Add pearl couscous and serve