Choose your own chicken tagine.

Cooking dinner is my most valued time of day.  That final moment of my morning workout routine and the following gulp of savory coffee is almost as satisfying, but it is the chopping, sautéing, seasoning and plating of the dinner meal that is my favorite.  For me, luckily, the work day is well finished by the time dinner ingredients are pulled from their hiding places and a glass of wine is poured. The anticipation of satiating my swelling appetite drives my slicing and dicing and quiets my mind.  In a meditative state, I am now the ultimate multi-tasker!  Emptying the dishwasher while stirring sweetly caramelizing onions and keeping an eye on the tray of vegetables in the oven; stealing a sip of wine while measuring spices and picking parsley.

That sense of accomplishment on a meal well served is greater than most, for me at least.  When it works.  I dabble in poetry and can doodle like a champ, but throwing together a meal is my real creative outlet.  It begins with a single ingredient and morsel by morsel I sometimes manage to make it all rhyme.  I coax out my narrative arch and create meals that are stoked by adventure, love, anxiety, and devotion.  No meal nor song is performed exactly as it was dished up before, but we delight in the tweaked harmonies and relish a turn of phrase previously overlooked (or undercooked).  Understudies are given the limelight they deserve and lovers fall harder this time around.

My chicken tagine is that same old story with a different ending every time.  I find the beginnings of the dish (chicken, spices, and broth) to be a simple enough melody for my own endless alterations, edits, and contributions.  Although the finale is always new, it is continually gratifying and warm and wholly satisfies my ravenous imagination and my aching belly.

So here I provide you with a palate of ingredients to bedazzle your blank plates.  Mix and match to your heart and hunger's delight.

Choose your own CHICKEN TAGINE
serves 4

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 onion, diced
ginger, minced or grated
carrots, diced
castelvetrano olives, pitted and sliced in half
dried Turkish apricots, sliced
cumin
turmeric
coriander
cinnamon
ground fennel
cayenne
flour
orange juice 
chicken stock
parsley
slivered almonds
lemon wedges

In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, brown your chicken thighs and then set aside. 

Saute your diced onion until starting to turn translucent.  Add ginger and cook until fragrant.  Add the carrots, olives and apricots and cook for just a minute more.  Add spices and flour, stirring to coat the vegetables.  I usually add twice as much cumin and half as much cayenne as the other spices, but you can do as you like.  Free expression.  Be cautious at first, taste, add more if needed.  1 - 2 tbsp of flour should do the trick.  If you want at thinner broth, add less. 

Pour in your orange juice (about a cup should do) and another cup or two of stock, all depending on how soupy you like your tagine.  Let the mixture come to a slow simmer so the flavors can start to mesh.  Add your reserved chicken and half of the parsley.  

Cook at a simmer until the chicken is cooked through - probably just a few minutes more.  

Serve ladled over quinoa or couscous and top with slivered almonds, more parsley and a wedge of lemon.  

Best if made a day ahead of time, if you can stand to wait.  

Additions, substitutions, alternate endings: try adding red peppers or spinach; omit the orange juice and just go for chicken stock alone; omit the chicken and make it vegetarian; use cilantro instead of parsley; golden raisins instead of apricots; pine nuts instead of almonds.  The list goes on and on, get creative!