Couscous and Glazed Chicken (Must Love Apricots)

I tried another new recipe tonight. I have never made anything with couscous before, so I was especially excited about trying this new dish. The cooking process goes pretty fast, so make sure you have the apricots chopped and the other ingredients ready to go before begining.

Overall, I give the dish 3 out of 5 stars. It wasn't my favorite, but I would eat it again. Even my dad cleaned his plate, which should warrant an extra star in and of itself (as he prefers not to stray far from the meat and potatoes americanized diet). His review: "I would eat it again, but not tomorrow."

If you love apricots, you will probably enjoy this dish. The couscous soaked up and enhanced the apricot flavors very nicely! The chicken was very tender.

The recipe is from Cooking Light's Annual Recipes 2001 or it can be found on the MyRecipes website.


Couscous and Glazed Chicken

Here's a quick main dish with a Moroccan touch. Kick this dinner off with a fresh spinach salad tossed with orange wedges.

Yield: 2 servings (serving size: 3 chicken tenders and 1 cup couscous)

Ingredients
1/2 pound chicken breast tenders (about 6 tenders)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons apricot preserves
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup finely chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup uncooked couscous

Preparation
Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a small nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add chicken, and cook 4 minutes or until done, turning after 2 minutes. Combine preserves and vinegar in a bowl; add chicken. Keep warm. Add broth to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits; add apricots. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 2 minutes. Gradually stir in couscous; top with chicken mixture. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff couscous with a fork.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 374 (8% from fat)
Fat: 3.3g (sat 0.6g,mono 1.3g,poly 0.6g)
Protein: 33.3g
Carbohydrate: 53.2g
Fiber: 3.5g
Cholesterol: 66mg
Iron: 2.7mg
Sodium: 474mg
Calcium: 27mg

Elizabeth Taliaferro, Cooking Light, APRIL 2000