Vegetable Moroccan Tangine

What does one foodie do to another foodie when one of them is dining out at a favorite restaurant and the other is home?  I know….you send each other pics of your food?.  Especially when they both look this good!

I was having Prosciutto Wrapped Halibut in the comfort of my home with my hubby.  Hey, I can hear you….you’re not feeling too sorry for me right.  After all, halibut is nothing to sneeze about I know.  It was delicious.  Do I sense another blog post in the near future?

BUT…my friend was enjoying a yummy Vegetable Moroccan Tangine Dish.  It looked a bit like this one….

Who do you think was more envious?  It was a bit of  a toss up since I know my friend Lisa LOVES Halibut…..but this Vegetarian Moroccan Tangine looked amazing.  In fact, the next night my husband and I met up with some friends in attempt to order the same thing.  I was so looking forward to trying this, I could almost taste it.  It’s all I thought about during church that Saturday evening.  Sorry Jesus!  But guess what….when I placed my order I was told, “sorry Karen, but it’s sold out”…(sigh).  Maybe Jesus was trying to tell me something….haha.

So this chef did her best to replicate it and I even shared some with my friends to critique.  Oh geez….what was I thinking!

Turns out they enjoyed it, at least I think so, but I definitely have some experimenting to do with the spices….“maybe kick it up a notch” my friend said?.  Since I love spicy food, I was thinking the same thing, but her opinion was very helpful.  She said “the flavors were great but I had to drink water almost after every bite because of the heat so maybe add some more of the spices you used?”   I was up for the challenge!

Guess what…….back into the kitchen for round two.  The good news is, both my husband and I love Moroccan food, so much so, I purchased this Tangine about a year ago at our local Pottery shop, Clay Coyote.   Notice what’s featured right on their website.  You’ll never regret ordering one of these.  It’s a beautiful piece and very impressive to bring to the table for your guests.  Have your guests help themselves, add toppings of their choice, and listen to their oohs and ahhhhs because it’s really so delicious.

Now that I have the recipe perfected, I believe I’ll be inviting my friends over for dinner again soon for a second opinion.  I know they won’t mind!  Besides, they have great taste in wine!  And if you ask the men, the beer ain’t so bad either.  We’ll have plenty of adult beverages to balance out the spiciness of this Vegetarian Moroccan Tangine.  I am so excited to share the end results with you.

I did some research on Moroccan dishes and most all of them used the same combination of spices.  After a couple tweaks,  I must admit, this is one fantastic, flavorful Moroccan Dish!  Please don’t be over-whelmed by the list of ingredients because all the spices are probably something you have in your pantry.  If not, they are very common and easy to find.  Also play around with the veggies.  If you prefer it less spicy, feel free to cut back on the curry, cayenne and red pepper flakes, but I think you’ll love it just the way it’s written below.  I know we did!  I was also thinking it would be GREAT with some Lamb.  I love playing around with recipes so hope you do too!  Bon Appetite!

MORROCAN VEGETABLE  TANGINE

• 1 small onion diced
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
• 2 teaspoons of cumin
• 3 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1 tsp. of coriander
• 1 tsp. of cinnamon
• 1 tsp. of Hungarian Paprika
• 2 heaping teaspoons of curry powder
• 1/2 tsp. of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. of red pepper flakes
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 inch of peeled ginger root minced
• 2 cups of chicken broth
• salt & pepper
• 1 15 oz can of chick peas, drained and rinsed
• 1 sweet potato cubed (I used organic and didn’t peel)
• 1 Delicata Squash cubed (again I didn’t peel)
• 2 carrots sliced
• 2 parsnips sliced
• 1/2 head of cauliflower cut into florets
• 1 small bunch of spinach or kale
• 1 container of grape or cherry tomatoes halved
• 1 small bunch of cilantro chopped
• feta and greek yogurt for garnish
• whole wheat Israeli couscous cooked according to package directions

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Sauté onions and garlic over medium heat in Tangine just until translucent.
2. Add tomato paste, spices and reduce heat to low.  Toast the mixture for one minute.  Add salt and pepper.
3. Add sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, and parsnips.  Stir and sauté for about 2 minutes or so.
4. Add ginger, bay leaf and chicken broth. raising heat to medium.  Cover with Tangine dome.  Simmer.
5. After about 2o minutes, add the cauliflower and tomatoes.  Reduce heat to low and simmer covered until veggies are very soft.  About 40 minutes.
6. Add a bit more salt, a spoonful of butter (or olive oil) and lots of cilantro.
7. Top with crumbled feta, greek yogurt, and couscous.