Chicken with Couscous Halabi Style

I think this was one of the first recipes I learned from my mom. Its an easy dish, just requires a bit of prep work.Ive been making some fatty dishes lately, so I decided to go healthy today. =)  Take out your chopping boards and sharpen those knives! One of my friends suggested to me that I take pictures of the steps as I'm cooking, so here goes. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

6 Peices of Chicken with thigh skin on
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 red pepper
2 Carrots
5 vine tomatos
1 Vidalia onion
1 can of garbanzo beans
4 tablespoons of fresh crushed garlic
6 tablespoons of olive oil
Crushed red pepper ( add as much or as little as you want, depends on how much heat you'd like.)
4 tablespoons of cinammon
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 teaspoon of all spice
2 teaspoons of tomato paste
1 vegetable bouillon
Couscous ( Get the boxed instant couscous, and make as much as you like, just follow the instructions on the box but use the broth that were going to make, more instructions later)

First, cut up all your vegtables. You can use any vegtables you like, but these are the ones that I like to use.

 

Then, Take your garlic, olive oil, and crushed red pepper and combine them into almost a paste.

Take the chicken in a large pot and put about half of the garlic paste on top. Saute them for about 4-5 minutes on high heat.

Add 5 liters of water I know like this seems alot, but its going to cook down alot and your going to need the broth for the veggies and the couscous. Add the cubed vidalia onion, all the spices, and a vegetable bouillon.

Bring to a boil, and then turn the heat down to medium and let it simmer for about an hour, until the chicken is cooked.

Remove the chicken and put it in a baking pan. Add about half of the leftover garlic paste, and add a teaspoon of tomato paste to that. Cover the chicken with that and let it bake in 450 in the oven till the skin is crispy, your not cooking the chicken, just browning the skin.

Add the tomatoes into the broth. Once it comes to a boil, add your vegetables and garbanzo beans and lower the heat. Let your vegetables cook at a simmer. Near the end of cooking your veggies, add the remaining garlic paste. Once they are done cooking, remove them. Be careful, and make sure that you don't overcook them. Now, if your using different types of veggies, you may want to add some before others. For example, some people like to use summer squash. If you do that, you'll have to add it before the zucchini, which takes less time to cook. Play around with your vegetables and use what you like. Some people also like to add raisins near the end.

Now, follow the instructions for cooking the couscous. But instead of using water, use the liquid from the vegetable broth.I also like to add a teaspoon of tomato paste to the broth for the couscous and some salt. Traditionally, couscous is steamed, but not all of us have a couscousi pot. =)

Once the couscous is done cooking, Take a large plate. Add the couscous, ladle a some broth, and then add the vegtables. Finally, add the chicken on top. Have some of the broth on the side for people to add if they'd like, its delicious! Enjoy!! =)