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Lemon Chicken Tagine with Olives

SERVES 4 / PREPARE 5 MINS / COOK 50 MINS

Ingredients

3 Large onions
2 Garlic cloves
2 tbsp Olive oil
8 Skinless, chicken thighs
2 handfuls Fresh flat parsley
2cm Piece of fresh ginger, grated
A large pinch Saffron thread
70g Olives, pitted
2 Preserved lemons, finely chopped
500ml Bone Broth or chicken stock
2 tbsp Slivered almonds, toasted
A handful Fresh coriander

Instructions

Chop the onions, preserved lemon, garlic and grate the ginger. You can use a food processor but pulse rather than process.

Chop the parsley by hand or in a processor, if using the processor, do the parsley first to avoid having to clean the bowl after the onions. Reserve. Chop the coriander too and reserve in a separate bowl.

Dry the chicken in paper towels. Put a heavy bottomed casserole on the hob and brown the dry chicken thighs in the olive oil. Do this in two batches so the meat doesn’t stew. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate deep enough to hold the chicken juices and reserve.

Add the onions, preserved lemon, garlic and ginger to the casserole and add a touch more of oil if needed. Gently fry until soft but not brown. Add the parsley (but reserve a little for garnishing), saffron and olives, pour in the stock and bring to boil; simmer uncovered for 15minutes to reduce the sauce. Add the chicken and gently simmer, still uncovered for another 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked. If the sauce is looking a bit thin, take the chicken out and turn the heat up to thicken the sauce.

While the chicken is cooking, toast the almonds until golden and fragrant in a dry frying pan under a very low heat as they burn incredibly easily.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve the tagine garnished with fresh coriander and parsley leaves, and some more preserved lemon slices if you like. This tagine is great with some quinoa, wholemeal cous-cous or cauliflower rice.

Nutrifacts

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Chicken contains PROTEIN to help your body heal and grow and it is quite low in saturated fat if you avoid the skin. Chicken is high in niacin, a B vitamin essential for energy production, metabolism and production of serotonin, which regulates mood, appetite and sleep, and glucose tolerance factor(GTF) which enhances insulin activity in taking glucose into cells to produce energy.

Ginger has antiinflammatory properties and aids digestion.

Onions are high in QUERCETIN, which research shows has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties and may help fight certain cancers. Onions are high in FIBRE that helps intestinal health transit. Onions are also rich n PRE-BIOTICS, a type of fibre which feed the good bacteria in our gut.

Olives and olive oil are low in saturated fat and high is heart protecting monounsaturated fats. EVOO also contains good levels of antioxidants including polyphenols and vitamin E than help prevent damage caused by free-radicals.

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