Thursday, April 23, 2009

CEIMB: Balsamic Chicken with Spinach and Couscous


The recipe this week was chosen by Marthe of Culinary Delights. I was really excited about this recipe because (1) it sounded great; (2) it looked incredibly easy (which it was); and (3) I have not eaten or cooked couscous so I was excited to give it a go.

I followed the recipe for the most part. I added more garlic than the recipe called for. Also I used regular spinach because I'm frugal and didn't want to fork out the extra dollar for baby spinach. Besides is there really a difference between spinach and baby spincach (other than the size of the leaves?) Also, I used the entire can of tomatoes in the balsamic sauce, doubled the balsamic vinegar, and added a bit of red pepper, salt and pepper to the sauce as it was cooking. Ok, so maybe I didn't follow the recipe at all!
With respect to the couscous, I used the extra chicken broth to make the couscous and I thought it turned out great (granted, I assume I majorly cheated by using 5 minute couscous!) But once again, having never eaten real couscous, I really didn't figure I would be able to tell the difference!

The result -- I loved the couscous. Its definitely something I will make regularly as a side dish for dinner. The balsamic chicken was just so-so for me. I thought it really lacked flavor. In fact, the only flavor I got from the dish was in the spinach. So, the recipe as a whole was somewhat of a disappointment. I can't wait to see what everyone else thought and what people did to jazz the recipe up a bit.

Thanks Marthe for picking the recipe this week and introducing me to couscous!

10 comments:

  1. I always use more salt and pepper and sometimes more garlic than indicated in the recipes..... And this recipe definetely needed it! Thanks for cooking with me this week!!

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  2. Looks yummy! I almost always double the amount of garlic called for in a recipe. Sorry you didn't like this one. If you make it again, I would suggest adding the chicken back to the pan while the sauce simmers.

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  3. Ditto on the chicken lacking flavor (according to Ted). But the sauce was great. We used quinoa and it worked well.

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  4. I think if I didn't flour the chicken it would have been very bland too...when I read the feedback it made me think it would be a good way to add flavor. Glad you liked the couscous and the spinach! I think if you try it again and flour it first, then add it to the sauce it may flavor things up more a bit.

    PS....I never spend the extra money on baby spinach either! ;)

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  5. I'm sorry it wasn't a winner. I used some fire roasted tomatoes, and I think that helped kick up the flavor a bit. At least you found a new favorite in the couscous!

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  6. Not really big couscous eaters ourselves, but it was great with this chicken. The stock/sauce is KEY, I think :)

    -- Nick

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  7. It looks so good! I'm with you, I wish I had cooked my chicken in with the sauce a bit so that it would have had a bit more flavor, but it was a fun thing to cook and try!

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  8. Couscous was a first for me too. So glad it was part of the recipe. I bet that it was wonderful cooked in chicken broth.

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  9. Isn't it great that couscous cooks so fast! I need to make it more often because it's such a quick fix. I'm sorry that the chicken was bland but I'm glad that you liked the spinach and the couscous.

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  10. I love couscous and its so versatile too. Great job, it looks delicious. I'm sorry it wasn't all that great for you.

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