Moroccan meals are not something that would typically be on our busy weeknight meal rotation. Weeknight meals most often consist of simple things like quesadillas, spaghetti with pesto, Trader Joe’s heat up food as much as I hate to admit that, and other 20-minute meals. Moroccan meals, like tagines, are often slow cooked to perfection so all the juices from the food and spices mix. You can’t make them in 20 minutes, that is until I discovered Saffron Road sauces.
I have never been the biggest fan of jarred sauce as I feel like it’s cheating to use them but the reality of life as two working parents means I don’t have time to make everything from scratch. Plus so many jarred sauces on the shelves are filled with ingredients I can barely pronounce and hidden fillers (like some sort of corn derivative) that are just not healthy. I am fairly strict about the types of foods I feed my kids: we aim to consume all organic, non-GMO, no food dyes and definitely no ingredients I can’t pronounce and identify. Because Saffron Road’s sauces are healthy, fresh-tasting and have all natural ingredients, I feel good about serving them to my family. And they are a company with values who are committed to non-GMO corn and sustainably-raised and halal meats.
Ingredients
1 package of Saffron Road Harissa simmer sauce
1 cup of green beans
1/2 cup of black olives
1 pound of chicken
1 sliver of preserved Moroccan lemon chopped up
Olive oil
Instructions
- Heat olive oil and brown the chicken on both sides but do not cook through.
- Chop the green beans, also cutting off the ends. Add in the green beans to the chicken.
- Immediately add the Harissa sauce, together with the preserved Moroccan lemon. Coat the chicken and green beans, turning over to make sure all sides are covered.
- Add in the olives.
- Cover and simmer on medium-low for about 20 minutes.
- You can make the accompanying rice or couscous in this time.
- Enjoy!
My girls ate theirs Moroccan style, with bread and no silverwear while my husband and I enjoyed ours with rice. I was initially concerned that the Harissa sauce would be too spicy for my kids as they don’t like spice, but the sauce is not really spicy. There is a small bite to it, but not detectable enough for my little ones.
My five-year-old gave the best compliment a meal can receive. We have a babysitter, Atika, who is Moroccan and a phenomenal cook. I know my cooking does not rival hers in the slightest. Her mother was a chef in some of Dubai’s finest restaurants. There is nothing this babysitter makes that my kids won’t eat. When my kids have days off from school, they always prefer to go to Atika’s house over camp because of her cooking. You can imagine my surprise when my five-year-old looked up from her plate and said, “Mama, your food tastes better than Atika’s.”
Thanks to our sponsor Saffron Road for sponsoring this post and for introducing us to their sauces and other yummy foods!
