gluten Free Dairy Free Moroccan Chicken Tagine and Apricot Quinoa Pilaf-Lunches for Freezer OAMC

I am joining in on Freezer Food Friday hosted by MJ Puzzle Mom.  Head on over and check out some great freezer tips and recipes, all made for the freezer!

Freezer Food Friday – Gluten Free Edition!

 MJ Puzzle Mom has graciously allowed me to host a Gluten Free Edition of Freezer Food Friday!  Woo!  So all you gluten free or gluten/dairy free cooks, if you have recipe (muffin, soup, stew, casserole, side dish, desert, etc.) that you know freezes well, please post it on your site, leave a comment below with the link.  Make sure to stop my MJ’s site and add yourself to her link there.  I am starting this so that the gluten free recipes will be easy to find for us all.  I would love to eventually have a nice round-up of tried and true recipes we can all use to fill up our freezers.  So, join in on the fun!

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I make this for dinner often, sometimes with regular quinoa and sometimes with red quinoa.  The photo is showing red quinoa.  They are both quite tasty, but if you have family members who are a little suspicious of new things, make the regular quinoa which is slightly less crunchy.  My husband requests this as a meal I can freeze up that he can take to work.  When I freeze this for his meals, I make the meal, place the quinoa pilaf on one side of the container, put a handful of fresh spinach on the other side, topping the spinach with the tagine.  It sounds strange to put fresh spinach into the container to freeze, but it will be alright as the spinach is supposed to wilt into the tagine anyway, and it works just fine to do that in this application.  Allow the meals to cool completely, cover and freeze.  Be sure to mark your containers with the date you make the meal and with the contents.  Trust me, once frozen, everything in the freezer has the same appearance!

 

The Recipe: Moroccan Chicken Tagine

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1” chunks
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced (about ¾ cup)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 18 large pimento stuffed green olives, sliced
  • 3/4 cup chicken broth
  • fresh cilantro, snipped for garnish

Instructions 

  • In a large resealable plastic bag mix all of the seasonings. Add the chicken to the bag, seal and toss chicken in the spices until well coated. Heat two tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, add seasoned chicken and sauté until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes.
  • Add onion, cook 2 minutes, then stir in ginger and garlic and sauté for 1 minute more. Add tomatoes, olives and broth, simmer about 5 minutes to blend flavors.
  • Serve with salad and apricot quinoa pilaf.

 

The Recipe: Apricot Quinoa Pilaf

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups apple juice
  • 1 1/2 cups gluten free chicken broth
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 6 tablespoons dried apricots, coarsely chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed
  • toasted sliced almonds for garnish

Instructions 

  • Bring apple juice, broth, oil and apricots to a boil in a saucepan. Stir in quinoa, simmer 12-15 minutes, cover and remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork. Garnish with almonds.
  • **Serve quinoa pilaf and tagine on a handful of fresh spinach leaves to complete your meal.

 

Comments from my old blog site:

Friday, October 10, 2008 – 07:17 PM
This looks yummy!  Thanks for sharing and playing along! MJ