Slow-Cooker Chicken Marakesh

To start this post, I would like to give a little background as to why I made this recipe.

Several years back, I went to a Moroccan restaurant in Tampa.  I ordered a lamb tagine dish, and it was so amazing I still crave it to this day.  Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed down the next time I went back (after talking about how awesome it was and finally dragging the hubby out there with me).  That dish is still emblazoned on my mind (and taste buds), and I haven't stopped thinking about somehow finding a similar dish or re-creating the recipe.

Fast forward to this Christmas and New Year holiday season.  I was working 10-16 hour days and coming home completely exhausted; too tired to cook anything, and sometimes too tired to even decide what to eat.  During about a two week period, we ate a lot of fast food, take-out, pizza, and frozen dinners.  It gets old quick, and I really wanted some home-cooked food, even though I was too tired to make anything.  When my work schedule got back to normal, I found chicken breasts buy-one-get-one-free at Publix.  I thought this would be a good time to try my hand at some bulk food prep...fixing several crockpot meals at once, and putting them in the freezer for later use.  This was one of those recipes I selected, but I ended up making this one fresh (not freezing it first) over the weekend instead.  Stay tuned for reviews of my other freezer-to-crockpot meals!

Here is the pile of food, waiting to be prepped into several different recipes.

The original recipe, found here 

 

In the crockpot, ready to go!

The hubby didn't care for it (mostly because of the garbanzo beans), so I ended up eating all of it, which took what seemed like weeks! I thought it was pretty good, but I wouldn't make it again without making some changes. Some of the things I really liked about this recipe is that it was easy, healthy, good left over, and it was different.  (Oh yeah, and I believe it would be paleo if you just left out the beans!)  It was not like I expected, though, and nothing like the Moroccan tagine dish like I hoped it would be.  It was kind of sweet, and not really spicy like I expected.  If I were to make it again with the same spices, I would add raisins.  I think raisins would add a wonderful little burst of juicy sweetness, and they would be the perfect addition to this dish.  It also did not have much liquid, and some of the garbanzo beans seemed a little undercooked.  Next time, I might try adding just a little liquid to help the cooking process, and leave the beans and sweet potatoes on the bottom (and maybe even a little less sweet potato).

 

Why do I keep forgetting to take pictures until I'm already eating?

I ate it served over white rice, though I would try couscous if I make it again.  I also ended up adding some cumin and cayenne to the leftover I ate, to add a little more kick.  I definitely liked it a little spicier. 

Verdict: I might try this again in the future, either with raisins or hotter spices.  But I had to eat the leftovers for what seemed like for-e-ver, so not making it anytime soon!