Midweek Dinner Party

Menu:
Moroccan Chicken Soup
Whole Wheat Couscous
Chocolate Gelato

What I had to buy:
$2.63 Chicken broth - low sodium
$2.64 Chicken broth
$1.59 Organic red pepper
$1.38 Zucchini (1 medium one)
$0.46 Cayenne pepper
$1.76 2 Organic onions
$2.35 Butternut Squash
$3.13 Whole Wheat Couscous
$5.88 1.18# Murray's chicken
$3.51 Chocolate Gelato


What I already had:
paprika
cumin
olive oil
cinnamon stick
lemon juice
2 garlic cloves
old saffron

What I left out, cause it was spendy!
$7.00 saffron! (And that was co-op pricing!)

$25.33 TOTAL
$3.16 per serving (8 total)



Moroccan Chicken Soup (Eating Well Cookbook)

1. Combine paprika, cumin and coriander in a small bowl. cut chicken into 1/2 inch strips. Put in bowl and toss with 1Tbsp of spices.

2. Heat oil in a dutch oven of large pot over medium heat. Add chicken and cook until browned, 3-4 min. Transfer to a plate.

3. Add onions and garlic to the pot and cook, stirring until softened. Add saffron, cayenne, cinnamon stick and the remaining spice mixture; cook- stirring for 1 min. Add broth, squash, bell pepper and the chicken. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes. Add zucchini and carrot, simmer until veggies are tender and chicken is cooked through. Discard cinnamon stick. Stir in lemon juice.


Whole Wheat Couscous

Instructions. 1.5 cups water bring to boil. Add 1 cup couscous (butter, oil and salt are optional). Stir, bring to boil again. remove pot, let stand covered for 5 minutes. (I stirred in a little butter.)


Afterthoughts:

How many people did it feed? 3 plus left overs
Total number of servings it made: 7 or 8

The soup took about an hour to prepare and cook... and that was with 3 people prepping. There was a lot of cutting, dicing, grating and stirring. It's a good recipe but not the quickest to prepare on a weeknight.

Serve smaller portions. The couscous makes this hearty soup even more filling.

Couscous is awesome! It cooks so fast, and with a little butter it was fantastic! If I ate it on it own outside the soup I'd probably have added salt as well. I was also tempted to add a little sugar and some cinnamon and make a rice pudding kind of dish out of it.