Moroccan Chicken Soup

With Exotic Spices, Chick Peas, & Cilantro

"Politeness is deception in pretty packaging."

Veronica Roth, Divergent

I have meditated at length about this. Being polite, it seems, often requires that we keep certain facts to ourselves, or in some cases, outright lie to one another. It is regarded as a necessity in our civilization - that is, to forever be open-minded and to never offend. Which, if you think about it, is not only futile but extremely silly as well. How on earth could we possibly go through life without offending anybody? You would pretty well have to keep your mouth shut all of the time, although that is bound to offend somebody at some point as well. Isn't ignoring people considered rude? I suppose you could also observe people carefully and attempt to only say something that you think the others would approve of. Of course, sooner or later you are bound to get people all in the same room who believe disparagingly different things. In this case, how would you know which things to say? And what if somebody else offends you? Is it rude to say so? Or shall you be polite, and insist that you were not insulted, to spare the other party unnecessary guilt? 

The finer points of human interaction have long eluded me. Although I believe I function fairly well in that area now, there have been many times through childhood and adolescence that I found these concepts embarrassingly difficult to grasp. I went through a brief period as a teen where I decided that I was going to say what I pleased, and people would have to deal with it. Don't get me wrong, I was never intentionally hurtful, but I went to no lengths to mask my rather strong, and often controversial, opinions. I discovered quickly, however, that this was no way to go through life - well, actually, I discovered that I strongly disliked others who shared this philosophy, as it often appears in individuals I find to be extremely narcissistic and obnoxious. Perhaps to avoid adopting these characteristics myself, I abandoned that particular method. 

Anyways, my intention was not to bore you with the history of my social development (it was dull enough the first time around, and I see no reason why anybody but myself should care about it in the slightest). I just, as usual, got carried away with my philosophical musings. I actually quoted Veronica Roth, firstly because I genuinely enjoy the quote, and secondly to use as a segway into a short review of the first two installments of her soon-to-be famous trilogy. To avoid too much irrelevant text to wade through to get to my recipe, I will abandon that endeavor for the time being, and perhaps devote an entire blog post to that later today. For now, the subject at hand should be soup. 

This soup is one of my favourites. I know I say that a lot, but I have lots of favourite soups - it really varies greatly depending on my mood. This one is a little exotic, sort of like an ethnic comfort food if you will. The equivalent of our plain ol' chicken noodle variety. I think, however, that this one has a bit more depth of flavour and is probably a fair bit healthier, too. There is lots of protein, no grains (yay!), tons of veggies, garlic, spices, and - if you used low sodium broth, or made your own - not really all that much salt, either. 

I was inspired to make this for myself after working in a little cafe in North Vancouver, many years ago. We used to do our own soups there daily, and one of my favourites that the Cuban chef used to whip up was Moroccan Chicken. I remembered the smell, the look of the red oil simmering gently on top, the shredded chicken, and the chick peas. I tried my best to recreate the magic, and at the risk of sounding like the narcissists I used to loathe so much - I think I did a pretty good job. 

So, I hope you all enjoy. It is spicier than many, I am sure, are accustomed, but it is always good to venture just a little bit out of your comfort zone from time to time. I think that if you give it a chance, and aren't scared of some ingredients you are perhaps not too familiar with, you will like this soup just as much as we did. 

Besides, if you don't, you can't tell me. That would be rude. 

You will need...

3 chicken breasts, whole

2 tbs olive oil or butter

2 cartons chicken broth (or half broth, half water)

1 large sweet onion, chopped

4 stalks celery, chopped

1 bulb garlic, minced

2 large carrots, chopped

1 large can chick peas, drained

2 large handfuls fresh spinach

1 handful fresh cilantro (optional)

1 large can diced tomatoes, reduced sodium if possible

1 tbs fresh ginger, grated
1/2 tsp dried chili flakes (optional)

1 tsp cayenne

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 

11/2 tsp coriander

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp paprika

1  tbs turmeric

1 large lemon, juiced

Salt & Pepper, to taste

In a large pot, saute the olive oil, onions, garlic, and celery over medium heat for about five-ten minutes, or until the onions and celery begin to soften and become aromatic. 

Add the chopped carrots and chicken, whole, into the pot. Pour the chicken broth over top, and turn the heat up to medium-high. 

Allow to boil for about fifteen or twenty minutes, or until the chicken is cooked all the way through. 

Remove chicken from pot and transfer to a cutting board. If you used skinless boneless, perfect. If not, you will need to remove and discard the bone (unless you eat them, in which case, good luck with that). Using two forks, shred chicken into smaller pieces. How large these pieces should be depends on your personal taste - I personally prefer small pieces, but B prefers large, so I did a combination of the two. Anything works. 

Return chicken to the pot and stir well. 

Add all remaining ingredients and stir well. If the soup is too thick for your liking, add water until it is the desired consistency. Allow to simmer over low heat for about ten-fifteen minutes. This allows the flavour to marry and really saturate the chicken. 

Serve hot and top with fresh cilantro, if desired. Great with fresh naan, or even a toasty grilled cheese. Enjoy.