In France they call it Couscous (or occasionally Couscous Royale when it’s served with chicken drumsticks and merguez sausages along with the standard cuts of lamb). You can think of it as a vegetable-prominent, lamb and tomato and chickpea stew served atop a copious bed of couscous grains, with harissa-spiked broth on the side.

I watched a handful of YouTube videos to familiarize myself with the dish, some in French, some in English in the French style, and some in English in the Moroccan style. One of my favorites fell into that third category, Couscous with Seven Vegetables / كسكس سبع خضار by Cooking with Alia.

With that research under my belt, combined with what I had on hand, what I was able to find at Trader Joe’s, and what Stephanie prefers (lamb 👎, chickpeas 👍), I cobbled together the following recipe.

For the couscous grains

• Trader Joe’s Whole Wheat Couscous (FTW!)

Prepare according to the instructions on the box. Drizzle with olive oil to taste. But don’t tell Alia (or Andy) that I didn’t use a couscoussier! Sometimes you have to pick your culinary battles.

For the chicken

• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp Ras el hanout
• 1 tsp paprika (smoked if available)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1.5–2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs (because I prefer them to drumsticks)

Toss thighs in the combined spice mix. Roast at 375°F until cooked to your liking, about 45-60 minutes. You can also use ~3 pounds of bone-in chicken thighs, in which case I’d remove the skin (to roast separately as crispy chicken skin snacks) and the bones (to add to the stew below) before tossing and roasting.

For the stew

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large white or yellow onion, diced
• 1 knob of fresh ginger, finely diced, about 2 tbsp (or 1 tsp ground ginger)
• optional: bones from the chicken thighs
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp Ras el hanout
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tsp salt (note: reduce to 1 tsp if not using low sodium broth)
• 1 14.5 oz can of diced and fire roasted tomatoes (bonus if with green chilies)
• 1 heaping-tbsp of tomato paste
• 2 quarts low sodium chicken stock (or beef or veggie stock)
• 4–5 carrots, peeled
• 1–2 sweet potatoes, peeled
• handful of fingerling potatoes (or turnips)
• 2 15.5 oz cans of chickpeas, drained
• 2 zucchinis
• harissa, to taste (or other hot sauce)

If you watch some of the videos I linked to above, you’ll get a sense of how to prep the zucchinis, turnips, carrots, and sweet potatoes. You basically want large, uniformly-sized “spears” or quarters. In a large 8-quart pot over medium-high heat, cook the onion in the olive oil, adding the ginger and spices (and optional chicken bones) after the onion begins to take on color. Continue cooking for a few more minutes, before adding the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, stock, and water. Simmer for 15 minutes, and then add the carrots, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Simmer for another 15 minutes before adding the chickpeas and zucchinis. If any of the vegetables are done sooner than the others (I found that the sweet potatoes started to disintegrate surprisingly fast), simply remove them to a plate while the others continue cooking. Simmer until all the vegetables are done. Remove the chicken bones and discard.

To serve

Put a scoop of couscous grains on each plate, drizzle with some of the broth (but don’t drown!), top with chicken, put one of each of the vegetable spears around the chicken, and “garnish” with chickpeas. In a separate small serving bowl, ladle some of the broth, optionally spiced with 1-2 teaspoons of harissa, for personalized “saucing” à table.