Ingredients:

Dump, chop, & go: For very little time and effort, you get a delicious, healthy meal of tender chicken, veggies cooked to perfection, and deliciously seasoned couscous! This is one of my favorite freezer meals. To freeze, you just dump broth, seasonings, and chicken in a bucket and freeze it. To cook, dump the frozen block in the Instant Pot and turn it on while you chop the sweet potato and zucchini and put your feet up. Then open the pot, throw in the couscous and veggies, and turn the pot back on. Go do something else, and come back to a magnificent dinner! It’s gonna look like a lot more food than two people can eat, but at just 650 calories per serving, it’s all yours. And only the one pot to wash! The one caveat health-wise is the sodium. If you are watching your sodium, consider omitting or reducing the olives, which are the biggest offenders here. The salt contributes the second most sodium, and can also be reduced or eliminated. 

To freeze:

1 cup (240 ml) unsalted chicken broth

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1½ teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

¾ teaspoon granulated garlic

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground sumac

½ teaspoon turmeric

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon cardamom

¼ teaspoon cayenne

4 chicken thighs, about 1 pound (454 g)

For serving day:

⅔ cup (100 g) uncooked pearl (Israeli) couscous

14 green olives

1 medium sweet potato, about 235 g

1 small zucchini, about 210 g

2 tablespoons diced preserved lemon, about 59 g

Preparation:

1.) Pour the broth into a freezer bucket. Whisk in the next 11 ingredients (coriander through cayenne.)

2.) Add the chicken to the bucket, spreading it out and submerging it in the seasoned liquid. Freeze.

3.) When you’re ready to cook, dump the frozen block into the Instant Pot’s inner pot. Press the Sauté button, and let it cook for 5 minutes. This melts a little liquid more quickly so the pot will come to pressure sooner. Press Keep Warm/Cancel to stop the sauté function. Close and lock the lid, and close the steam vent. Set the pot for 10 minutes on high pressure, using either the poultry or manual button.

4.) While the chicken comes to pressure and cooks, prepare the remaining ingredients. Slice the zucchini about a half-inch (1 cm) thick, halving or quartering any extra-large slices. Peel the sweet potato and chop into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces. Cut the olives in half, and dice the preserved lemon. Measure out the couscous and set aside.

5.) When the time is up, carefully quick-release the pressure and open the pot. Separate the pieces of chicken if they’ve clumped. Sprinkle the couscous into the liquid between the chicken pieces, making sure it’s all submerged. Add the olives and lemon, then the sweet potato and zucchini. The veggies don’t need to be submerged, just the couscous.

6.) Close and lock the lid, and close the steam vent. Set the pot for another 10 minutes on high pressure. When the time is up, carefully quick-release the pressure and serve.