For me, the moment came Tuesday morning and the thing I forgot? Well, it meant dinner for that night was not going to happen - at least the way I planned.
The other week, I had stopped at the coop to get a can of coconut milk to stir into my paleo chicken pad thai. I figured that I'd buy a can for a couple bucks, use what I needed and toss. Wasteful? Yes. Necessary? Probably, at least for me on that day. Lo and behold, I went down the Asian aisle and saw culinary coconut milk in a carton with a resealable cap from So Delicious. I was able to add just what I needed and store the remaining in the work fridge for subsequent lunches during the week.
But I still had some coconut milk left so the plan was to bring it home and make a slow cooker curry. Not only did it sound great but it afforded me the opportunity to make dinner for Mark and Miles so they could see "The Lego Movie" at the library Tuesday night. I was filled with pride Monday night that I remembered to toss the milk in my lunch bag just before I left for the day.
If only I had remembered to put the milk in the fridge, though.
On Tuesday morning, I knew immediately that I had messed up and needed to scramble a dinner plan. There was some homemade macaroni and cheese in the freezer and a Barefoot Contessa bag meal (found on manager's special) in the deep freeze. They would work for the boys but not so much for me.
What would work?
A twist on several recipes for Moroccan Chicken, an idea that surfaced after a frantic Google search.
The dish used staples from my pantry - canned diced tomatoes and ground ginger, coriander and cinnamon - and a few things that I happened to have because, if you hadn't guessed, I'm a sucker for Kroger's manager's specials. Even though I seemed to be in a terrible rush, the hardest thing I had to do was chop two cloves of garlic and that took all of 2 minutes.
Though it was simple to put together, the flavor was anything but. The dish was warm and hearty yet subtle, prompting two picky boys to clean their plates. I served my chicken over broccoli but it would pair will with couscous or brown rice.
Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken Thighs
2 pounds chicken thighs
1/3 cup dried apricots, sliced
1/3 cup dried currants
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup plain yogurt
In a slow cooker, combine chicken thighs, apricots, currants, garlic ginger, salt, coriander, cinnamon, and pepper; stir. Pour diced tomatoes on top. Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours. Just before serving, remove chicken from the slow cooker. Stir in plain yogurt to make sauce with the tomatoes. Place chicken on plate and top with tomato mix. Makes 4 servings.
Looks yummy, I might have to give this a try :)
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