Carrot and Fava Bean Tagine

I'm certain I've prepared a meal or two since January. I'm shocked to find no posts here since then! Most likely they have been replays of old standards, as time to experiment in the kitchen continues to be minimal with the soon-to-be-one-year-old Vivi Bea in full-throttle toddle. I'm also now cooking with shortcuts: i.e. Trader Joe's presteamed beans, or precut broccoli florets; and cooking with the grocery store restrictions of our new, suburban locale. Future posts may feature rare foodie finds in this neck of the woods. All I can say is, we're cooking a lot at home because the restaurants down here leave much to be desired. And now for that tagine...

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 leek, sliced
1½ tablespoons minced fresh ginger
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
¾ pound carrots, peeled and cut into ½-inch coins
1 1 oz. package of Trader Joe's presteamed fava beans
1 cup No-Chicken broth
⅓ cup capers
1/3 c raisins

1. Heat a wide-bottom pan over medium heat. Add oil, then onions and ginger. Cook until onions begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add cardamom, cinnamon, and cayenne. Stir and cook for about 30 seconds.

2. Add carrots, beans, and broth. Cover and simmer until carrots are almost tender, about 8 minutes. Add capers and raisins. Cover and simmer until carrots are fully tender, 8-10 minutes. If tagine is a bit dry, stir in a few extra tablespoons broth. Add salt to taste.

Moroccan Pumpkin and Lentils

2 T olive oil
1 large onion, diced (about 1 1/2 c)
1 jalapeno chile, seeded and sliced
1 14 0z. can diced tomatoes
1 c green lentils, rinsed
1 T paprika
1/ t cayenne pepper
1 t cumin
1 2-lb. pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cubed
1/ c tomato puree
1/4 c chopped cilantro, for garnish

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and jalapeno and saute 10 minutes, or until onion is translucent and golden. Add tomatoes, lentils, and spices, and cook 2 to 3 minutes more. Stir in pumpkin cubes, tomato puree, and 2 1/2 c water. Season with salt and pepper.
Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 40 minutes, or until pumpkin and lentils are tender, stirring occasionally and adding more water if needed. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.
Serves 8

*Good over quinoa!

Moroccan Vegetable Ragout

1 potato, cut into 1/2" cubes
1 carrot, sliced
1 med. yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced/pressed
1 small eggplant, sliced
1 zucchini, sliced
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
vegetable stock, about 3/4 c
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
1/2 (heaping) tsp ground cumin
1/2 (heaping) tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 (heaping) tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne
2-3 T olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon

Heat oil in a deep pan over medium heat. Add the onion, potato, carrot and garlic. Saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in ginger, cumin, turmeric, salt, paprika and cayenne and cook, stirring for 30 seconds to bring out the flavors of the spices. Add can of tomatoes, veg stock and lemon juice. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked through.

Serve over couscous. Makes 4 servings.

Butternut squash and cumin couscous

Original recipe is from Real Simple Nov. 2006. The only thing I did differently was to remove the butternut mixture from the pan with a slotted spoon once it was all cooked and then I used the remaining spice-infused broth to make the couscous. I also forgot to add the second 1/ of the cumin at the end, and I omitted the 2 t of salt altogether.

1 butternut squash
2 T olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 t cayenne
1/8 t cinnamon
1/8 t nutmeg
1 t cumin
1 can diced tomatoes
1/3 c golden raisins
1 32-oz. container of No-Chicken broth
1 15.5 oz. can of chickpeas, drained
1 1/2 c couscous
2 T chopped, fresh parsley
1/4 c almonds, chopped

Halve and peel the squash. Remove the seeds and cit the squash into 1 inch chunks. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Ass the onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cayenne, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 1/2 t of the cumin and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the squash, tomatoes, raisins, broth and chickpeas. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Uncover and cook until the squash is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer mixture to a bowl using a slotted spoon.

Bring remaining broth back up to a boil and add couscous. Cover and remove from heat, and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Fluff with fork. Divide the couscous among individual bowls and spoon squash over the top. Sprinkle with parsley and almonds.

Preserved Lemons

Since preserved lemon is often called for in the Moroccan food I am presently on a kick for, this is day one of the process which will take at least a month. 4 organic lemons are cut in quarters lengthwise, but are left attached at the stems. Each slit is stuffed with salt and squeezed close. They are then put into an airtight jar and over the next few days they give up a bunch of their juices and start to make their own brine. In a few days I'm to add the juice of 4 more lemons, which I don't reckon will cover them, but we'll see how it's all looking and tasting a month from now. What we're apparently after is the rind only. The middles get discarded and the salt washed off. Hmm.

Sweet Potato Salad/Slada Batata Halwa

Slightly tweaked from Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon

1 large onion, chopped coarsely
*2 T evoo
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 t ginger powder
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t paprika
pinch salt
1/8 c capers
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/8 c chopped parsley

Saute onion in oil until golden. Add sweet potatoes and barely cover with water. Add the spices and cook until potato pieces are tender. Here it says the liquid is supposed to reduce to a sauce, but that didn't happen in my test kitchen, so I ended up draining off the liquid and putting the potato and onion mixture into a serving bowl. Once in this bowl and at room temperature , toss with lemon juice, parsley and capers. I also sprinkled a dash extra of the ginger, paprika and cumin over this for added color and to make up for what may have been lost in the liquid that did not reduce to a sauce.