Roasted Chicken and Mushrooms with Couscous

The Mister and I seemed to be falling into a vegetable rut. As much as I love to cook fresh vegetables, we often buy frozen for the convenience. And we always buy the same ones: spinach, broccoli, carrots, corn and green beans. Occasionally, we'll get kale or mixed vegetables. Once in a great while, I find frozen diced butternut squash. 

While browsing an issue of Food Network magazine, I found this recipe for Chicken and Mushrooms with Couscous. While technically not even a plant, mushrooms are classified in the vegetable category. I'm rather ambivalent about mushrooms (they must be perfectly cooked for me to eat them; mushy mushrooms make me gag), but The Mister loves them. Reading through the rest of the recipe, I thought the addition of dried apricots to the couscous was odd, and almost omitted them. 

This turned out to be an amazing dish. The mushrooms and chicken were roasted to perfection, and I could not stop eating the couscous. I may never make couscous WITHOUT apricots again! The sweet dried fruit with the nutty grains was a perfect flavor combination. The best part is, this dish is ready in less than 30 minutes! 

Roasted Chicken and Mushrooms with Couscous
Adapted from Food Network

Ingredients

• 1 lb baby bella mushrooms, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 ½ lbs thin-sliced boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup whole wheat couscous
• 1 cup water
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• ⅓ cup chopped dried apricots
• ¼ cup fresh dill, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the mushrooms and garlic in a medium mixing bowl. Drizzle with 2 tbsp of the olive oil, then sprinkle with cumin, cinnamon, ½ tsp salt and pepper. Toss until the mushrooms are evenly coated. Spread in a thin layer on a foil-lined baking sheet. 
2. Roasted in the oven for 10 minutes. While roasting, brush chicken with remaining 1 tbsp olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place water and butter in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. 
3. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, nestle chicken in the mushrooms and roast another ten minutes. 
4. Stir couscous and apricots into the boiling water, cover the saucepan and remove from the heat. 
5. Remove baking pan from the oven. Fluff couscous with a fork. 
6. Divide mushrooms among four plates, and serve with a chicken breast and couscous.