Try Something New: Mediterranean Chicken

**What can I say about this dish?** It was TO DIE FOR! I think I completely ruined my diet. Not in content, but in quantity. This is VERY LOW FAT and healthy, and the flavor is amazing.

Click on the picture for a bigger view. We've got chickpeas on the left, rice topped with almonds slivers browned/fried in a scant amount of olive oil, shredded chicken breast cooked according to the recipe on the hyperlink above, and steamed carrots.

My husband walked in from church and smelled this in the crockpot, and suddenly I was the most popular woman in Christendom! Pretty cool.

Several years ago, I borrowed a Mediterranean/Lebanese cookbook from our neighbor who was of Middle Eastern origin. I made this killer chicken, rice, ground beef, and almond dish. I haven't been able to find my copy of the recipe since we moved 3 years ago.

When my hubby walked in, he said he smelled this and instantly thought of that Lebanese food.

When I saw the recipe at the crockpot365 blog, it reminded me of the Lebanese dish too. The smell, though, was the kicker. It was the cumin and the cinnamon. About 1 teaspoon of each for 1-1/2 pounds of meat: Six giant chicken breasts, 1 cup of chicken broth, 1/2 cup of orange juice, (I added a tiny bit more liquid than the recipe calls for) and that tiny bit of cumin and cinnamon did the job! Those spices were what made it smell like our old favorite.

But the apricots and dates--oh baby! I have never eaten dates before. They are definitely an acquired taste, but delicious.

The secret of the almonds--use them on this meal like you would use croutons on a salad. Crunchy and perfect! You have to fry them. If you have leftovers, do not store the almonds with the main dish, because they will become soggy and ruin the texture of the meal.

I bought 1 pound of slivered almonds from the bulk foods at Sunflower Market and fried all of them. Most of them are not in the picture. There was a plate of them on the side to pass around for each person to add as needed. We used most of them. The ones on top of the rice were just for presentation. The orange and purple slices on top of the shredded chicken are 5 dried apricots and 5 dates saved out from the crockpot to use for a garnish.

Next time I make this, I will add the chickpeas to the meat for the last hour. These are also an acquired taste. I love them. One can was plenty for the entire meal.

BOTTOM LINE: I followed the recipe exactly except for adding an extra 1/4 cup of broth and extra 1/4 cup of orange juice. I cooked on high for 3 hours, shredded the breasts, and put them back in the crockpot. Turned it to low for 2 more hours to let the moisture soak into the meat more. Cooked the rice, chickpeas, and carrots separately, though adding the chickpeas and carrots at the end would certainly work.

For dessert we had Super Soft Gluten Free Sugar Cookies from the same yummo author on her other blog. My son was in heaven, and everyone else liked these too. My 14 yo not-allergic-to-wheat daughter LOVED them. She said they were better than regular.