Dukan Spicy Chicken with Apricots and Olives

Spicy Chicken with Apricots and Olives

UPDATE: Forgot to mention, if you are following the Dukan rules to a tee, you may want to substitute the honey with a natural sweetener.  We haven't tried it that way because we're in the "in moderation" mode...we don't use honey all the time, not even once a week and using honey once in a while hasn't made a difference on the scales.

We loved this recipe!  Before we bought the apricots for this recipe, I ran the idea by the male half of this couple and he said "apricots?!"...but no fuss after that exclamation so we decided to try this recipe.  It is spicy and sweet...full of flavor.  Reminded both of us of Caribbean/Mediterranean food.

This recipe came from Noble Pig's blog and we followed it exactly as posted.  We'll probably try this recipe again with 1/4-1/2 c. white wine added to the recipe.  If you're in Cruise and don't want to wait, try making it without the apricots.    You'll definitely want to serve this over brown rice, quinoa, Dukan bread or something to enjoy the sauce.  We used 1 t. of crushed red pepper flakes and it wasn't too hot for us, but we like hot food.  Adjust the heat to your taste.

Forgot to take photos of the different steps, eek!

RECIPE:
Serves 2-4
Prep Time: 10-20 minutes (again, we had a lot of fat to remove from our chicken, sigh)
Cook Time: 45-50 minutes plus 24 hours to marinate chicken

1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (all fat removed)
1/3 c. fresh lemon juice
1/3 c. honey
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. crushed red peppers (use 1/4 t. if you don't like spicy)
1 1/2 t. kosher salt
1 t. black pepper
2 t. ground cumin
1 t. smoked Spanish paprika (recipe says do not substitute)
1/2 c. pimento stuffed green olives (rough chop)
1/3 c. dried apricots, (rough chop)
1/3 c. cilantro, chopped (plus some for garnish)

In a small bowl whisk everything except the chicken, olives, apricots and cilantro.   Stir in the olives, apricots and cilantro.  Place chicken in large ziploc bag and pour marinade over chicken.  Marinade chicken for 24 hours (flipping bag over once in a while)...try not to skip the 24 hour marinade.

Preheat over to 375 degrees.  Place chicken in a baking dish (we used a square pan), no more than 2 quarts.   Pour the marinade over the chicken (including the olives and apricots).  Bake for 45-50 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

We served this over quinoa (cooked with chicken broth).

Enjoy...we sure did!