Chicken with Dates and Cinnamon

While this may be a little bland looking, it is totally not. It was a ton of flavor. It makes a really nice fall warming on the inside dish. I think the cinnamon gives that warming feeling.

Chicken with Dates & Cinnamon (Adapted from Cooking Light)

12 bone in chicken thighs
salt/pepper
2T olive oil
4 c sliced onions
1t ginger, minced
2t capers, rinsed
2 T flour
3/4 t cumin
1/2 t coriander, ground
1 cinnamon stick
2 c chicken broth
1/2 c pitted dates, chopped
3T lemon juice

Dry the chicken with paper towels. Salt and pepper the chicken thighs. In a large dutch oven, add olive oil, and half of the chicken thighs. Cook about 5 minutes each side or until brown. Remove from pan and add remaining thighs and do the same. Set chicken aside

Add onion and ginger to pan. Saute until the onions have some nice color - about 10 minutes. Add capers, flour, cumin, and coriander. Stir about 1 minute. Gradually add broth, stirring constantly while loosening the browned bits - sauce will thicken. Add cinnamon stick and chicken. Cover and cook on a low simmer for about 12 minutes. Add dates and simmer 10 minutes. Add lemon juice.

The original recipe included olives instead of capers. I'm not a huge olive fan (other than their oil). The capers were a nice substitute and added a nice flavor. I served this over white rice (hence the bland looking picture). In the original recipe they used basil leaves at the end to garnish. I think this does not add anything to the dish but color. I think if anything the basil flavor would be off in this dish. If the bland color bothers you, add some nice fresh chopped parsley.