Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken Thighs

Sheesh, I’m all over the map this month with my recipes. Thai with the Coconut red curry soup, Cuban with Tostones, Korean with Korean Burrito Bowls, now Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken…I dig it. My friends and I love to go out to eat, and our favorite places to go are authentic, family owned, real-deal kind of ethnic food places. We’re talking the neighborhood gems that once you find, you feel like you can never go anywhere else, because that kind of cuisine will never be as good. And then you feel a little awesome (and sneaky) inside because you don’t want anybody else to find them. Know what I mean?? Totally. But know what else is great about these places? Great prices, great portions. And when you have a ravenous appetite like I do after workouts, this is exactly what you need. Sorry not sorry I have the appetite of a horse after crossfit or swim workouts.

Get ready, rant alert: fancy-schmancy restaurants are probably my #1 pet peeve. Sure, the restaurants are great. The food is probably even fantastic. But the #1 thing that bugs me? When you literally charge an arm and a leg for a portion THAT IS GOING TO LEAVE ME HUNGRY when I finish the fourth bite (aka the fourth bite. And no, I am not taking massive caveman sized bites of my food). Anyone else?? Tell me it’s not just me. The sad thing is this is even starting to happen at “upscale american” restaurants that aren’t even the totally fancy-schmancy type, but fancy enough to put my pet peeve into action.

This is exactly the situation that happened last week, when I went out with my parents for their birthdays. I was really excited to visit this particular restaurant, because I know someone that works there and they gave me the DL on what to get that was gluten-free, PLUS they have a famous executive chef who may or may not be on a bravo series right now. Ooohhh, secrets.

Fast forward to when we actually got our food (you know, because they like to exaggerate the time between courses at these kinds of places). Out comes a piece of fish and potatoes. Sounds fine, right? WRONG. Try a 2-oz piece of sablefish and four teeny tiny potatoes. Also, they are actually called teeny tiny potatoes. Google that sh*t and you’ll see! I would’ve probably noticed how cute the potatoes were if I wasn’t so surprised pissed off that this was actually an entrée portion. If these people were on Chopped, to the chopping block they would’ve gone. Immediately. Cue Alex Guarnaschelli’s disappointed voice.

I’m sticking to ethnic restaurants. And this delicious Moroccan Chicken. If you need me, I’ll be eating a NORMAL PEOPLE sized portion of this delicious food that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg and leave me hungry for hours after the meal. Kthanks.

Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken Thighs

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

6 hours

Total time

6 hours 10 mins

 

Dana: Real Food with Dana

Serves: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 ½ lbs chicken thighs, skin removed (or buy skinless)
• 1 large sweet potato, chopped in 1-inch pieces
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped

for the marinade:

• ½ c fresh cilantro, loosely packed**
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 tsp minced ginger
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp sea salt
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ¼ tsp cardamom
• ¼ cup chopped dates (or raisins)

for serving

• chopped cilantro
• chopped almonds

Directions

1. First, chop up the onion and sweet potato into large bite-sized pieces. Line the bottom of the slow cooker with the onion.
2. Dry the chicken with a paper towel, then poke each piece a few times with a fork. This will allow the marinade flavors to seep into all the crevices!
3. Next, make the marinade: combine all the ingredients for the spice blend, the olive oil, minced garlic, ginger, and cilantro in the food processor until smooth.
4. In a large mixing bowl, coat the chicken all over with the marinade. Transfer the chicken to the slow cooker, but leave a little of the marinade in the bowl.
5. Toss the sweet potatoes with the remaining marinade, then scatter them over the chicken in the slow cooker with the chopped dates.
6. Set the slow cooker to LOW for 6-7 hours. The chicken is done when it can easily be shredded with two forks.
7. Garnish with additional chopped cilantro and chopped almonds. Serve over cauliflower rice.

Notes

**If you're like my friend (hey Casey!) who despises cilantro and thinks it tastes like soap, you can substitute parsley!

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