Moroccan Chicken with Eggplant

Based on a recipe I found online, this is less work than it looks like other than the initial chopping bit. I made this using a whole chicken but I find it difficult to get both tender white meat AND fully cooked dark meat. Since I prefer light to dark, I'm changing this to chicken breasts, but if you like dark meat you can use that too, but cook it much longer on a simmer than you would for dark meat.

Ingredients:

A bunch of olive oil
1 white or yellow onion, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 T. paprika
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. coriander
1 tsp. turmeric
3/4 tsp. ginger
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves and/or allspice (optional)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1-2 lemons (for juice)
3 large tomatoes, diced
8 chicken breasts (I use bone-in and cut each breast in half)
1 cup water or chicken stock
3 small, skinny eggplants, unpeeled and diced into 1-inch cubes
Sliced almonds for serving

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Cook onions over medium-high heat in a LARGE pot until starting to turn translucent; add garlic and cook until fragrant but NOT burned.

3. Add your spices (salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, coriander, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, allspice and/or cloves) and cook for a minute or two

4. Add water/chicken stock, tomatoes, and juice from 1 lemon and bring to a boil

5. Meanwhile, drizzle 4-5 tablespoons of olive oil over the eggplant in a baking dish; toss to coat, then pop in the oven until tender and starting to brown (stirring occasionally), about 25 minutes.

6. Add the chicken to the pot, stir in, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until eggplant is ready.

7. Add eggplant to cooking chicken, stir in, then continue to simmer, covered, until chicken is cooked through and tender.

8. Sprinkle with almonds before serving (it really adds a nice crunch, don't skip it!)