It’s funny to look back at my cookbook and notice what was trending in 2017/18 — both on a whole in the culinary world, and just in my kitchen. Poke bowls were HOT (still are!) so there’s a fantastic poke recipe in there. Tahini plays a starring role throughout the cookbook, which fits as a trip to Israel was one of my major highlights of 2017. I still love tahini — longtime subscribers know that it’s been the lead in many What To Cook recipes (might I suggest the seared tuna with sesame noodles?)
Harissa, a North African chili paste, also pops up several times in the pages of Just Married. I became absolutely obsessed with it thanks to Ottolenghi’s shakshuka recipe. When we lived in Coronado, I truly made that shakshuka once a week for two years. I was obsessed. My shortcut WTC version is also delightful.
But somewhere between 2018 and now, harissa kinda fell off my radar. Maybe because it’s a bit spicy and my wimpy children act like I’ve poisoned their food if I add a single red pepper flake to it. (Don’t worry, parents: I have a workaround if your children are also depriving you of flavor).
I recently rekindled my love for it, and have been using harissa to add kick to stews, stirring it into yogurt to make a simple sauce, and even spreading it on a delicious chicken sandwich I made last week. The possibilities are endless — but my favorite way to use it is as a marinade.
This week, we’re going to coat chicken and sweet potatoes with a simple harissa marinade, roast ‘em up, then plate everything super bougie. We’ll add a swipe of labne or — my personal fave — sour cream (just trust me) on the bottom to tame the heat from the harissa, place the chicken and sweet potatoes over top, and finish it off with lots of fun garnish-y things.
It’s a feast for the mouth and the eyes!
roasted harissa chicken and sweet potato bowls
Serves 4
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