Chicken and Chickpea Couscous

I was skeptical to try this recipe mainly because it is a South beach diet recipe, so I wasn't sure it would have much taste, and because Bill already didn't think couscous had much taste. But we like chickpeas, and I like couscous, so I thought I would give it a try. This recipe says that it serves 4 but since we have it as a main dish usually with a salad, I would say it serves more like two, so the second time I made it I added more couscous and broth to make it stretch further.



Chicken and Chickpea Couscous
From: South Beach Diet cookbook
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 15 min

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1 tsp Olive Oil
1 small onion, diced
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup couscous
1 (15 oz) can chickpeas
Salt & Pepper
Note: For an even healthier meal use low sodium chicken broth and whole-wheat couscous.

Directions:
1. Drain and rinse chickpeas (rinse in strainer until bubbles disappear).

2. Cut uncooked Chicken into small cubes. Season chicken with salt and pepper.

3. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat (I actually used a large skillet and this worked just fine). Add chicken

4. Cook Chicken until no longer pink inside and lightly browned (about 6 min.)

5. Remove chicken from pan with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

6. Reduce heat to medium and add onion, cumin, and cinnamon to the same pan. Cook until onions are softened and lightly browned (about 3 min)

7. Add broth and bring to a simmer.

8. Stir in Couscous, chickpeas, and a good pinch of salt and pepper

9. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 1 minute

10. Return Chicken to pan with Couscous. Stir and season to taste with salt and pepper
(see you can see how we could use more couscous, sure is a lot of chicken and chickpeas!)

Serve... and enjoy

The finished product! mmmmmmmm! (Don't mind the stray couscous on the side of the bowl)