Harissa-honey chicken and pearl couscous
The dates go into warm water first, which is the difference between chewy and molten.
At a Glance
Story
Soak the chopped dates in warm water for ten minutes before they go anywhere near the pan. Dried dates hold their shape in a sauce and turn up as sweet chewy lumps; rehydrated ones collapse into the romesco and thicken it, so the sweetness runs through the whole dish instead of ambushing you in three separate bites.
Ingredients
- 10 oz chicken breastcut into bite-size pieces
- ½ cup pearl couscous
- 1 ½ tbsp harissa paste
- 2 tsp honey
- 1 oz Medjool datespitted and roughly chopped
- 6 oz carrotshalved lengthwise and thinly sliced
- 2 scallionsthinly sliced, whites and greens kept apart
- 3 tbsp romescojarred is fine
- ½ cup full-fat Greek yogurt
- olive oilsalt, pepper
Method
Two marinades running at once, both of them ten minutes, both of them doing more work than they look like they are.
- Salted water on to boil. Chop the dates and cover them with ½ cup warm water. Leave at least 10 minutes.
- Whisk the honey, harissa and a drizzle of oil in a large bowl. Add the chicken, season, stir to coat and leave at least 10 minutes.
- Couscous into the water, 5 to 7 minutes, until tender. Drain and return to the pot.
- Medium nonstick pan, oil, medium-high. Carrots and the white parts of the scallions, seasoned, 5 to 6 minutes, until browned and giving. Tip them into the couscous with a little oil, stir and cover. Wipe the pan.
- Same pan, oil, the marinated chicken in one layer, undisturbed 3 to 4 minutes, then stirring another 3 to 4 minutes until cooked through. Off the heat, add the drained dates and the romesco and stir.
- Loosen the yogurt with a tablespoon of water and season it. Couscous into bowls, chicken and all its sauce on top, yogurt spooned over, scallion greens last.
The yogurt is not a garnish. It is the cold sharp thing the harissa needs, so be generous with it.
More to cook
Chicken and gnocchi with a pecan gremolata
The gnocchi cook in the broth, and the pesto turns what is left into a sauce.
Chipotle-glazed chicken bites over poblano rice
Cornstarch, not flour, which is the only reason the crust survives the glaze.
Pork bánh mì rice bowls
All the bánh mì furniture, none of the bread, and a pickle that takes ten minutes.
Balsamic chicken and roast roots in spicy honey butter
The butter goes on after roasting, never before, and it matters more than it sounds.
Falafel and chicken in one pita
Feta goes into the falafel mix, not on top, and it changes the whole thing.
Gochujang-glazed meatloaf with delicata squash
Fifteen minutes of prep, and the squash needs no peeling whatsoever.
One-pot shrimp udon with lime
Nothing gets drained, so the starch off the noodles thickens the sauce for you.
Shawarma turkey meatballs over couscous
Foil over the pan for the first six minutes, which is the whole trick.
Shrimp and orange-chili noodles
Fifteen minutes. The noodles are heated in the bowl they get dressed in.
Chicken and chickpea pitas
Fifteen minutes, one pan, and a tahini sauce loosened with honey.
Chickpea and yellow curry shakshuka
One pan, one jar of curry paste, and eggs dropped in at the end.
Crispy chicken cutlets in a tomato cream
The sauce is made in the frying pan after the oil comes out, not before.
Falafel and farro, everything marinated
The falafel mix needs ten minutes alone before you touch it. Rush that and it crumbles.
Kimchi butter shrimp
Butter and kimchi make a pan sauce in about ninety seconds. Have the rice ready.
Lemon-tahini kale, chicken and apple
A dressing with parmesan, tahini and Worcestershire in it, which is more than it sounds.