
Harissa Chicken, Spiced Lentil & Tomato Stew with Steamed Green Beans
This harissa chicken dish has been shared with us by Andrea Lee from Forking Foodie. It is served with a spiced lentil and tomato stew with steamed green beans. Such an easy all-in-one meal packed full of Middle-Eastern flavour, and another filling option that avoids things like potatoes, rice and noodles. Only 367 calories in total for the whole meal, and leftover stew will freeze nicely. For a quick midweek meal, simply use store-bought harissa paste (or make in advance), grill the chicken on the pan and have the stew prepared ahead of time.
Recipe Tester Feedback: "A one-pot wonder meal with spicy chicken, green beans and a delicious stew. You could easily vary the chilli intensity of this dish with the amount of chilli you use, but the flavours go together very well as it is stated here." - Nicki
No: Gluten / Egg / Nuts
Contains: Dairy
*Variations: Can be made without Dairy
Preparation Time 20 minutes + optional 30 minutes for harissa paste
Cooking Time 30 minutes
Serves up to 6 as a side
Can be frozen
Ingredients
- Harissa paste (optional; makes marinade for 4, can be scaled up):
- chillies - 4, dried, red
- garlic clove - 1, peeled and chopped
- salt - 1/4 tsp
- olive oil - 15g
- dried coriander - 1/2 tsp, ground
- caraway seeds - 1/2 tsp, crushed
- cumin - 1/4 tsp
- Marinade:
- yoghurt - 15g, plain, per person (*omit for DF)
- sea salt - pinch, fine, per person
- harissa paste - 1.5 tsp, per person (you can use store-bought or have a go at making your own using the recipe below)
- Harissa chicken:
- chicken breasts - up to 6, small fillets (approx. 130g each), skinless and boneless
- paprika - 1/2 tsp, mild smoked, per person
- Lentil and tomato stew:
- lentils - 200g, green, rinsed and soaking in hot water
- fresh coriander - 10g, plus extra to garnish
- fresh parsley - 10g, flat, leaves, plus extra to garnish
- chilli - 1, large, red, de-seeded and cut into 1-2cm pieces
- garlic cloves - 3. peeled
- olive oil - 10g (or your preferred oil)
- onion - 1, red or white, large, peeled and chopped, approx. 150g
- cumin - 2 tsp, ground
- dried coriander - 2 tsp, ground
- cinnamon - 2 tsp, ground
- turmeric - 1 tsp, ground
- chicken stock - 650g, or liquid vegetable stock (or 1.5 stock cubes and 650g cold water)
- tinned tomatoes - 400g, chopped
- lemon juice - 30g
- cherry tomatoes - small punnet
- salt - to taste
- pepper - freshly ground, black, to taste
- Steamed green beans:
- green beans - 80g, per person, trimmed
Method
Harissa paste (optional):
- Soak chillies (4) in hot water for about 30 minutes.
- Once chillies are ready, remove seeds and stalks (or leave the seeds for an extra punch).
- Add chillies, garlic clove (1), salt (1/4 tsp), oil (15g), ground coriander (1/2 tsp), caraway seeds (1/2 tsp), and cumin (1/4 tsp) together and blitz Speed 10 / 10 seconds. Scrape down sides and repeat until a paste consistency has been reached.
Marinade:
- Mix together the harissa paste (1.5 tsp per person) and yoghurt (15g per person) with salt to taste (approx. 1 pinch per person). You might find this easiest to do by weighing it into a bowl sitting on top of the mixer.
Chicken:
- Add the chicken breasts (1 per person) to the marinade and coat thoroughly. Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients. You can do this an hour or two in advance and leave it to marinate longer.
- Just before you're ready to start cooking everything, take a sheet of baking paper large enough to fit in the steaming attachment upper tray, crumple it up and wet it, then squeeze out any excess water. It's a great base to steam things which keeps your steamer from being covered in sauces and juices, especially if it's difficult to clean. Just make sure you don't flatten it completely and leave some space for the steam to come through the holes.
- Put your dampened baking paper in the steaming attachment upper tray, leaving space around the edges for the steam to come through, place the chicken on it (leaving as many gaps as you can, especially if you're cooking six breasts) with any remaining marinade, and sprinkle with the smoked paprika (1/2 tsp per person). Put the lid on, and set aside.
Lentil and tomato stew:
- Turn to Speed 8. Add the coriander (10g) and parsley (10g) to the bowl through the hole in the lid. Scrape out the herbs with a spatula and set aside, covered in the fridge.
- Turn to Speed 8. Add the chilli (1) and garlic cloves (3) to the bowl through the hole in the lid. Turn the blades off.
- Add oil (10g). Turn to Speed 4. Drop the onion (1) onto the running blades, and leave to run for about 5 seconds until roughly chopped. Scrape down sides.
- Program 4 minutes / Steaming Temperature / Reverse+Speed 1, measuring cap off.
- Add the cumin (2 tsp), coriander (2 tsp), cinnamon (2 tsp) and turmeric (1 tsp). Program 1 minute / 100C / Reverse+Speed 1, measuring cap off.
- Add the stock (650g), chopped tomatoes (400g), lemon juice (30g) and soaked and drained lentils (200g) to the bowl. Give a quick stir with your spatula before replacing the lid.
- Add the marinated chicken to the upper tray of the steaming attachment and set the steaming attachment in place. Program 15 minutes / Steaming Temperature / Reverse+Speed 1.5, measuring cap off.
- Carefully remove the steaming attachment upper tray and lid and set to one side while you quickly put the green beans (80g per person) in the lower dish of the steaming attachment. Make sure there are plenty of gaps between the beans for the steam to get through and replace the upper tray and lid. If you are cooking six chicken breasts and can see that they're not cooking completely evenly, move them around at this point. Program 10 minutes / Steaming Temperature / Reverse+Speed 1.5.
- Once the time is up, check your chicken is cooked through. Set the steaming attachment aside. Check the lentils have cooked to your preferred texture. If not, continue cooking for another 10 minutes. Check seasoning. Add more seasoning if preferred.
- Add the chopped herbs, salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste) and stir the herbs and seasoning in. Mix Reverse+Speed 3 / 5 seconds.
- Taste again, and if you're happy, tip in the tomatoes (400g) and stir with your spatula (to avoid breaking them up). Leave to warm through for a minute. You could slice the chicken breasts into 4 or 5 pieces on the diagonal at this point, to present them.
- Ladle the lentil and tomato stew into warmed bowls, top with the green beans and chicken, and garnish with the reserved herbs. Enjoy!