This sweet and savory stew is unbelievably easy to make, soooo delicious and ready in 35 minutes. It’s not only tasty, it’s nutritious and beautiful to look at. This exotic stew has a wonderful blend of flavors and spices including a hint of cinnamon.  It’s served over fiber rich whole wheat couscous.  The skinny for one serving is 382 calories, 5.7 grams of fat, 9 Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS and an amazing 9 grams of fiber! With so much fiber, this stew will keep you full for hours.  You’ll really look forward to the leftovers too.  Definitely a keeper!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground paprika

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenders, cut into 1-inch pieces

½ tablespoon olive oil

2 cups (1 large) onion, chopped into chunks

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 28-oz can chopped tomatoes, undrained

1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1¼ cup water

⅓ cup raisins

⅓ cup Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced in half (about 10)

1¼ cups uncooked whole wheat couscous, see shopping tip

½ tablespoon reduced-fat butter or Smart Balance Light

Garnish

⅓ cup snipped fresh cilantro, optional

Instructions

1. In a bowl, combine the flour, spices and salt.  Add chicken pieces and coat with mixture. Set aside.

2. In a large nonstick pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add onions, garlic and cook for about 4-5 minutes until tender.  Remove to a plate and set aside.

3. Coat the same pan with a little cooking spray.  Add the chicken pieces and cook quickly, stirring often, until no longer pink.  Add back the onions, undrained tomatoes, beans, water, raisins and olives.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  Stir occasionally.

4. While chicken is simmering, cook the couscous.  Bring 1¼ cups  water to a boil in a large saucepan.  Remove from heat and stir in 1¼ cups couscous.  Cover and let stand for 5 minutes.  Stir in reduced-fat butter or Smart Balance Light.

4. For each serving, scoop ½ cup couscous in a bowl or plate and top with 1¼ cups stew.  Sprinkle a little cilantro on top, if desired.

Makes 6 servings

Food Fact
In cuisines of many other cultures, sweet and savory spices are blended to make excellent stews, curries, salads, and vegetable or meat pies.  Moroccan cooking superbly blends sweet and savory spices.

Healthy Benefit
Herbs and spices have more disease-fighting antioxidants than most fruits and vegetables.  Blending spices intensifies these health benefits.

Garbanzo beans (like most legumes) have long been valued for their fiber content.  Two cups provide the entire Daily Value! 

Shopping Tip
Most supermarkets sell whole wheat couscous in the same aisle as rice or in the international section.  Trader Joe’s also sells it.

Weight Watchers (old points) 7
Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS 9

This entry was posted Saturday, January 7th, 2012 at 3:21 am and is filed under Recent, Recipes. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.