Thursday, October 25, 2012

Moroccan-Style Beef with Couscous



Moroccan-Style Beef is a delicious and hearty dish that will make your home smell wonderful with the scents of cumin, cinnamon, and coriander. I'm all about savory dishes, and this one definitely fits that description. I really like the savory and the sweetness provided by the raisins.  I've also made this dish with ground turkey, and if you are feeling extra authentic to moroccan/indian cuisine, you can make it with ground lamb as well.

Couscous is one of my all time favorite side dishes. Why? Because it cooks in 5 minutes. Plus it is super tasty with a funky but wonderful texture. I prefer mine with salt, pepper and lemon juice. It's so simple to make and accompanies tons of dishes. I especially love to serve it with Greek Chicken because it soaks up all of the tomato sauce flavors. Mmmm mmmm good!

Moroccan-Style Beef with Couscous
{Serves 6}

-1 lb lean ground beef
-1 tbsp olive oil
-1 large onion thinly sliced
-1/2 cup of 1/4" cut carrot
-3/4 tsp ground cumin
-3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
-1/2 tsp ground coriander
-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
-2 cups fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth
-1/4 cup raisins
-3 tbsp tomato paste
-Zest of 1 Lemon
-1/4 tsp salt
-15 oz can Chickpeas, rinsed and drained
-1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
-1 tbsp lemon juice
-Prepared coucous

Heat a dutch oven or large skillet over medium-high heat (I used my Le Creuset dutch oven pot). Add the ground beef to the pan, stirring to crumble until no longer pink. Remove the beef from the skillet and drain away the fat. 

Add the tbsp of oil to the skillet and swirl to coat. Add the sliced onion and cut carrots, and saute for 4 minutes. Add the spices (cumin, cinnamon, coriander and cayenne) and saute for 30 seconds while stirring constantly. 

Add the ground beef back into the skillet along with the chicken broth, raisins, lemon zest, salt, tomato paste and chickpeas. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer (medium-low) for 5-10 minutes or until the mixture has thickened. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the fresh cilantro and lemon juice. Serve with couscous. 

Enjoy!

Recipe Inspired By: Cooking Light

3 comments:

  1. Yum, I LOVE morooccan dishes. looks super tasty

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  2. Found this recipe the other night when searching for a recipe that used couscous and ground beef (the pantry was quite bare). Amazingly, I also had a can of chickpeas, too. The only thing I didn't have was the cilantro, but I just tossed some parsley in instead. This was great!

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  3. I belong to a local area meat share, and they always give a bit too much ground beef each month. I was getting bored of the same things: Tacos, pasta, hamburgers, meatballs. I made this tonight! Verdict: So, so good! I followed the recipe and made no substitutions. It will definitely be one of my go-to recipes.

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