Aromatic Moroccan spice Ras el Hanout adds a dash of the exotic to this quick and easy braised chicken dish that is comforting and delicious. Add green beans for a perfect weeknight dinner or Sunday Supper.
I’ve been on a Moroccan bender for the past year, especially after “discovering” this quality blend of the aromatic Moroccan spice Ras el Hanout from Awaken Savor Spices. Ras el Hanout can contain more than 30 ingredients and is a traditional Moroccan blend of herbs and spices, popular across the Middle East and North Africa. The name means “head of the shop” in Arabic and represents the very pinnacle of spice blends – for Moroccan souks (spice merchants) it’s a point of honor to have the most sought after version of this blend. Ingredients include saffron, paprika, cumin, ginger, coriander, tumeric, fennel seed, and allspice to name a few.
I first used it in my 5-Minute Spicy Hummus recipe posted last year and, funny sidenote: my volunteering at a #140 Meetup at the Comedy Store the same day, led to a mention of my site and contributed to hummus trending on Twitter that night 🙂 If you love Moroccan cuisine, I highly recommend adding Ras el Hanout to your array of spices. Rather than having individual bottles of all the spices that typically go into a Moroccan dish, a tablespoon or two of this exotic blend is all you need.
For Green Bean week, this is Simple + Seasonal recipe #3 highlighting tender, young green beans fresh from the garden or your nearest local farmer’s market. I adapted this from a Bon Appetit recipe that I saved from years ago. The original recipe called for about 10 different spices, simplified by using Ras el Hanout 🙂 Similar to a tagine, this Morrocan stew is made in one large pot or dutch oven. Feel free to vary the vegetables – it’s fantastic with roasted eggplant, zucchini or roasted cauliflower.
The aromatic Moroccan spice Ras el Hanout adds a dash of the exotic to this quick and easy braised chicken dish that is comforting and delicious. Add green beans for a perfect weeknight dinner or Sunday Supper.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 3 large garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
- 2 tablespoons Ras al Hanout
- 1-14½ ounce can no salt added organic diced tomatoes*
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs, preferably organic
- 1 lb. fresh young green beans trimmed
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram
- ½ cup slivered almonds toasted
- Garnish: chopped fresh cilantro optional
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Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in heavy large wide skillet or dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions. Cover and cook until onions are soft, about 8 minutes. Add garlic, stir and cook for 1 minute.
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Add paprika and Ras al Hanout, stir and cook for 1 minute. Add tomatoes, water, and lemon juice; bring to a gentle boil. Arrange the chicken in the pan in a single layer, spoon some sauce over the chicken. Bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes. Turn chicken over, cover, and simmer until chicken is tender, about 15 more minutes.
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Meanwhile, bring large pot of water to a boil. Add green beans and cook for 2 minutes for young, smaller green beans, 3 minutes for larger green beans. Remove to an ice bath to stop the cooking.
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Stir in marjoram, add blanched green beans around the chicken, spoon some sauce over, simmer uncovered for 10 minutes to blend flavors and heat through. Season to taste with more lemon juice, if desired, and salt and pepper. Transfer chicken to large shallow bowl or rimmed platter. Sprinkle with almonds and cilantro. Excellent served with couscous to soak up all the delicious sauce.
* I used Trader Joe's No-salt added, organic diced tomatoes
Magic of Spice
June 23 at 3:06 pmThat looks fantastic and loving the flavors of the sauce…I bet it would work wonderfully with fish or shrimp as well 🙂
Tanantha
June 23 at 3:39 pmThat’s an interesting spice! I will need to look for it and get my hands on. The green beans you got are beautiful and it works beautifully in this dish!
Victoria
June 23 at 6:27 pmI love that you were responsible for hummus trending on Twitter, lol! I definitely need to make an effort to include ras el hanout in my cooking more. I love spice blends and I really love Moroccan cooking so yeah… it’s on my to do list 🙂
Angie's Recipes
June 24 at 12:18 pmI love your moroccan chicken with green beans! I think I would need some pasta to go with the sauce.
sippitysup
June 26 at 2:59 pmThanks for the intro. Beautiful use for it too. GREG
Carolyn
June 27 at 8:22 amThis is a great looking dish! After my recent foray into tagines, I am in love with the Moroccan flavours. I will definitely make this.
Faith
June 27 at 3:53 pmRas el Hanout is definitely one of my favorite spice blends too. This looks like a great dish, Priscilla!
Monet
June 27 at 8:38 pmOh delicious! My best friend and I are obsessed with all things Morocco…especially the food. This chicken dish looks so delicious! I love all the spices…I need to make this soon. Thank you for sharing with me today. I hope you are having a happy Monday! Much love and blessings from Austin!
pachecopatty
June 27 at 9:29 pmI eyeballed the green beans at the market today, I’ll have to pick some up at the farmers market tomorrow. I love the look of this dish and the spices, yummy;-)
Nancy
July 5 at 7:03 amHi Priscilla, Hope you had a lovely holiday weekend. Also Thanks for having participated in June’s YBR:)