It has been extremely chilly the past two weeks. I am talking about at least -30’C with windchill. Brrrrr!!!! In an effort to warm the family up, my mom made this amazing Moroccan tagine last night for dinner. I had to share! The cinnamon, raisins, molasses and apricots gave the tagine a nice subtle sweetness while the cumin, coriander, garlic and ginger gave a hint of savory. The sweet potatoes were fantastic, as they absorbed all the delicious flavours of the tagine and became perfectly tender. The toasted almonds gave the tagine a nice crunch. And the chickpeas boosted the protein content of the dish for the vegetarians in the crowd (i.e. me). I have to say…this dish certainly warmed everyone up! It was a perfect meal for a very chilly evening. Especially since mom then served a warm apple crisp to finish off the evening. Mmmmm!
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 cups of sweet potato; peeled and diced into 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup of onion; chopped
- 1 and 1/2 cups of carrots; peeled and chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic; minced (or 1 to 1 and 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder)
- 2 tablespoons of ginger; finely grated ( or 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger)
- 1 tablespoon of ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon of ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- 3 cups of vegetable stock (or water)
- 3 tablespoons of fancy molasses
- 1 and 1/2 cups of cauliflower florets
- 1-14 ounce can of chickpeas; drained and rinsed
- 3/4 cup of raisins
- 1/2 cup of chopped dried apricots
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup of sliced almonds; slightly toasted
- cooked couscous or rice
Method
1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the sweet potato, onion and carrots. Saute until the onions are translucent (about 5 minutes).
2. Add the garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander and cinnamon and saute another 2 minutes.
3. Add stock (or water) and molasses and bring to a simmer.
4. Add cauliflower, chickpeas, raisins and apricots.
5. Season with salt and pepper. Bring back to a simmer. Simmer the tagine until the vegetables are tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed (but tagine is still moist). [about 20 minutes]
6. Adjust the seasoning to taste. Garnish with almonds. Serve the tagine by itself as a stew or on cooked couscous or rice.
Source: In the Kitchen with Anna Olson cookbook (2008)
Looks and sounds great!
Yum!
Thanks for inspiring me on what to cook for dinner tonight!
I have some roasted veggies in the oven right now (with chickpeas-what a great idea to throw some in)