You will be forgiven for thinking I have gone quite mad by posting a recipe for a dish using fresh peaches in the middle of the UK winter! But I haven’t, for the recipe below – a delicious and flavoursome tagine – uses South African peaches which are at their seasonal best during the UK winter months and widely available at a good price.
They make a wonderful alternative to my usual tagine recipe that has soft dried apricots in it and certainly offers a fruity burst of sunshine when our days are short. Those from sunnier climes, like my many followers in Australia, can use their own bounty of new season stone fruit like peaches and nectarines for this dish that is just as good eaten hot or warm in the summer or winter. I like to serve it with couscous and sprinkled with a few pine nuts (although this does raise the carb and fat stats) so they are optional.
AFRICAN RICH LADY PEACH AND CHICKEN TAGINE
Ingredients
METRIC/US
low-fat cooking spray or mist
1 small onion, chopped
3-4 (about 400 g/14 oz) skinless and boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 tbsp finely grated root ginger or Lazy ginger
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground paprika
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4-1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
4 peaches (I used South African Rich Lady variety), skinned, halved and stoned
1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut into small bite-sized pieces
400 g/14 oz can chopped tomatoes
125ml/3/4 cup water
50 g/1/3 cup stoned black olives (I used Kalamata)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
50 g/1/3 cup seedless/seeded raisins
2 tbsp toasted pine nuts (optional)
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander/cilantro
Method
1. Generously spritz a large, wide, non-stick frying or saute pan with low-fat cooking spray or mist. Heat, add the onion and chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is no longer pink.
2. Stir in the ginger, garlic, cumin, paprika, cinnamon and chilli flakes, mixing well.
3. Cut the peaches into bite-sized pieces and add to the pan with the sweet potato, tomatoes and their juice, water, olives and salt and pepper to taste, mixing well. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally until the potato is soft, about 15-20 minutes.
4. Stir in the raisins and cook for a further 2 minutes.
5. Serve hot or warm with couscous if liked, sprinkled with pine nuts if using, and chopped coriander/cilantro.
SERVES 4
WLS PORTION: 1/2
CALORIES PER PORTION (WITHOUT PINE NUTS): 290
PROTEIN: 31.7g
CARBOHYDRATE: 31.2g
FAT: 4.7 g
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Chris Martello says
Hi Carol, Love your blog! I have been a dietitian for years, a culinary instructor for 6 yrs and B&B owner for 3 years. Saw a part-time job as a dietitian with bariatric surgery patients and started two months ago. Yet another interesting avenue to learn about. So exciting! We are reviewing our literature for patients. Your format and wording of the various texture changes is straightforward and pleasant to read. Thank you.
CAROL says
Thank you so much Chris! If I can help in any way then I hope you won’t hesitate to get in touch – carol@bariatriccookery.com Do let me know where you are working via p/m and we can see how our paths might cross. C x
Frances Staples says
Needed something interesting to cook this week end and found this. I could not find peaches so I made it with nectarines. It was excellent and I will make it again. Thank you for having so many interesting recipes that make eating an adventure rather than a slog to count calories and figure out how to take dieticians lists and make them into menus. I found your website when I was considering having bariatric surgery and used it for the six months leading up to the surgery to figure out if I could live the bariatric life. I found that I could, in great part because it was not bare fish and green salad. I did not feel deprived while changing my eating habits dramatically. I lost 40 pounds before I had the surgery using your recipes and have now lost a total of 115 as I approach one year post Sleeve. Your recipes form the basis of my diet and I frequently come looking for new ones. Thanks for being there!
CAROL says
Hi Frances, Thank you so much for such a lovely message. It’s been a pleasure to provide some recipes and advice over the years and I am personally delighted to find that I have helped with your journey. It has always been my wish to inspire would-be and post-op patients with their new regime and to show that food can nourish and heal but also be a joy and needn’t be based on deprivation – your kind words and encourage and validate this – THANK YOU! Everyday I hope to also win over those that look at the ‘can’t have’ list and encourage them to believe there is another way (a bit different but just as tasty) that they ‘can have and want’. I hope your comments will help … C x