Lunch / Dinner
Slow-Cooked Moroccan Short Ribs
A slow cooker can be a busy cook’s best friend. Get almost all of the prep work for the meal out of the way early — which in this case involves searing a Moroccan spice mixture onto the meat — then drop everything in the slow cooker and let it simmer as you go about your day. Use the high setting as you run errands or the low setting if you have a full day of work.
The slow, moist cooking process is ideal for these short ribs because it makes them as tender as possible. The potatoes and carrots hold up during the long cooking time, but wait to add the apricots until the last 30 minutes.
At that half-hour-’til-dinner mark, get started on the Apricot Couscous — a good match for the savory, yet somewhat sweet entrée.
Ingredients
COMBINE:
SEAR:
Dried apricots add a touch of sweetness and enhance the spices in this exotic dish.
Instructions
Combine cinnamon, ginger, cumin, turmeric, and salt in a small bowl and rub onto ribs.
Sear ribs in oil in a large sauté pan over high heat until browned on all sides, 10 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker and pour off oil from pan.
Deglaze with 3 cups broth, scraping bits from the bottom. Transfer deglazing broth, carrots, potatoes, onion, honey, and pepper flakes to the slow cooker.
Simmer ribs in the slow cooker on high-heat setting until fork-tender, about 3½ hours. Discard onion and strain fat from the surface of sauce. Whisk flour and remaining broth together and stir into the slow cooker with the apricots.
Simmer until ribs are fork-tender and sauce has thickened, 30 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice before serving. (To cook ribs all day, follow same procedure, but simmer about 7½ hours on low-heat setting. Add remaining ingredients and simmer an additional 30 minutes.)
When rubbing the ribs with the spice mix, thoroughly coat all sides and press the spices into the meat for maximum flavor.
Searing the short ribs not only eliminates the rawness of the spices, it also adds flavor by way of caramelization.
Before adding the flour, be sure the liquid in the slow cooker is simmering; that way the sauce with thicken properly.
Nutritional Facts
Nutritional Facts
Per 1/4 recipe
Calories: 468
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 17g 26%
Saturated Fat 6g 30%
Cholesterol 69mg 23%
Sodium 669mg 27%
Carbs 51g 17%
Fiber 6g 24%
Protein 31g
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.