Lebanese Couscous and Chicken

When I was in New York a few weeks ago, my friend and I went to Sahadi's Spice Emporium. I realize this isn't the kind of shopping you expect to do when you're in New York, but it's just HOW WE 30-YR OLDS ROLL.

I've been eating a lot of couscous lately, mainly because it's so easy to make and so versatile. I'm still not on the quinoa wagon, despite the fact that so many people are. I always feel like I'm eating grit. Not grits, because cheese grits are wonderful and a regular staple of the Weekend Lonely Sidecar diet. But quinoa reminds me of just grit. Like the taste that you have in your mouth after your dentist finishes up. Make sense? Thought so.


So while we were shopping around the spice emporium, trying to decide just how much spicy paprika we were willing to lug around with us, whether or not 8lbs of shredded coconut was too much, and if Asian tamari almonds went with everything or nothing. Turns out the answer is everything.


I found this container of Lebanese couscous, or Mograbeyeh, sitting on a shelf looking totally awesome. And I knew immediately what I was going to cook. I'd been thinking a lot about tangines ever since eating at a little Moroccan place in Times Square, but since I don't have a tangine pot, I'd have to come up with something a little more conventional. I have a foodie friend who is more in the know than most, and when I asked him if I could cook something close to a tangine in a dutch oven, he simply shook his finger at me and said "Cooking in wooden shoes is always discouraged. You should know that."

I listened to him about as well as I generally do to my bartender, when he tells me it's not right to pay for drinks using nickels I've found on the street.


This recipe is incredibly simple, and I fed it to non-couscous eaters who seemed to love it. The Mograbeyeh plumps up to pea-sized juicy nuggets, and it's imperative to cook the dish long enough so that they lose the gummy texture. We served it with parmesan cheese on top, mainly because I am in cahoots now with my cheese man and am serving it on top of everything lately (including Asian tamari almonds...delish!).

Lebanese Couscous and Chicken

1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
2C Mograbeyeh, or Lebanese couscous
2lbs chicken, breasts and thighs
1 large can tomatoes, whole
2T paprika
1T herbes de Provence
Salt and Pepper to taste

Sweat the onions and garlic in 4T olive oil. When onions are translucent, add couscous, paprika, and herbes de Provence. Work the couscous for about five minutes, letting it soak up the olive oil. Add chicken broth and cook for another 10 minutes on low heat. Add chicken and tomatoes, juice included.

Leave on low heat for up to 2 hours, checking often. Couscous will be ready when it has lost its gumminess and is instead soft. Enjoy!