Sunday, January 11, 2009

Vegetarian Tagine

I think might be possibly the most healthy dish in the world. This Moroccan stew is high in fiber, vitamins, minerals and protein. And it tastes good. Enough said. (Well, for those who know me, rarely am I that succinct). This version is vegetarian, as I am making it for lunch @ work-and it thus must be without meat, but it is awesome with chicken or lamb added, and served over couscous.

Ingredients:

1 head garlic, chopped
2 onions, chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch thick pieces, or about 1 1/2 cups cut baby carrots
1 celery rib with leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes
3 cups vegetable stock (I used Trader Joe's individual vegetable stock concentrate and added water)
1 14 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed well
1 red pepper, chopped
1 pound butternut squash, cut into roughly 1 inch cubes
1 medium eggplant, chopped into roughly 1 inch cubes
1 cup sultanas (golden raisins)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 box prepared couscous


Heat up olive oil in large stew pot over medium-high heat. Add celery, carrots, onions and garlic. Stir for 1 minute, then turn heat down to medium. Let cook about 7 minutes. Add dry spices and let cook 1 minute until fragrant. Add lemon juice.

Add parsley and 1/4 cup cilantro. Add tomatoes and bring to boil. Add in vegetable stock, chickpeas and butternut squash. Cook, simmering, 1 hour.

Salt eggplant pieces, let rest 2 minutes then rinse well with water and add, along with crushed red pepper flakes, and chopped red pepper to stew.

Chop up sultanas and add to stew. Cook additional 1 1/2, or until vegetables are tender. Add additional seasoning to taste. Stir in remaining 1/4 cup cilantro.

Serve over prepared couscous.

17 comments:

  1. I love my tagine and love to cook Moroccan! Great recipe...

    ReplyDelete
  2. This looks fantastic! Great flavors!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That sounds wicked good, I definitely want some! :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. Excellent! I've been looking for something to do with that can of chickpeas I accidentally opened!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sounds great! I would have mine with lamb.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Okay I saw this without the pic, now I am jealous, what a gorgeous tagine...mine is like the ones you see in their markets...plain clay...I love that, and where did you get it???

    ReplyDelete
  7. The photo is with a serving, not cooking, tagine. I actually purchased it on Overstock about 2 years ago, and use it for things like tagine, but also as a serving tray for cookies, bread, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  8. BTW, I am making more of my foods gluten free...seems like my stomach cannot handle that much wheat...and possibly always been sensitive, but never have been a big bread eater, so now it is showing up in my son as well.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Looks really good! I like tagines, very flavourful and goes very well with cous cous.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Love a stew that you can just throw everything into a pot and let it go. This sounds full of flavor!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks duodishes...and it is a great option for those watching their $$$. It costs about 25 dollars to make around 12-15 servings (depending on how much you eat!)

    ReplyDelete
  12. By the way I tagged you on my Luck and Resolutions Blog post..I am passing on the torture to you! lol

    ReplyDelete
  13. Amazing! Do you own a tagine dish? I love the addition of sultanas. It's like confectionner's sugar in pastilla - sweet goes well with Morrocan/Algerian food!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Looks really yummy...I was looking for a vegetarian recipe for a Tagine. I think this would be delicious with Seitan :-) Definitely planning to make this...

    ReplyDelete
  15. For those thinking of cooking this in a traditional Tagine, you might consider the amount of ingredients and the size of your tagine. I have a very large one all those items just wont fit in mine. Its cooking now in a 14 quart Magnilite stock pot and is about 1/3 full. Maybe they make tagines that big but not that I've seen on Ebay. Another thing to consider is that the word "Tagine" refers not only to the cooking pot but to various Maroccan dishes and not necessarly what you cook them in. Gotta go. It smells great.

    ReplyDelete
  16. A very good point! Thank you...I'll add in edits regarding this. I simmered mine on the stove top. And very spot on in that I refer to the general style of dish. I hope that you like the end flavor...it took a lot of tweaking and it also good with prunes/apricots thrown in instead of the sultanas!

    ReplyDelete
  17. This recipe is sooo delicious! I was a bit worried because I didn't have any vegetable stock, so just used water...and I subbed sweet potato for squash because I couldn't find any. But it is excellent! I am so pleased to find a healthy veggie dish that doesn't require any vegetable broth (I can't find any where I currently live in Asia and normally recipes are too bland without it). Absolutely amazing!!! And I don't even like eggplant, lol! I threw in a few olives because I tried a tagine at a Moroccan restaurant in the Philippines and they had olives - added a nice flavor!

    ReplyDelete

Tried my recipe? Please let me know how it turned out for you! Be honest (and kind!)