Visit Morocco and eat from a traditional tajine
Call it a tajine if you own one of those lovely clay pots. Or simply regard this dish as a hearty winter stew. Either way, you’ll be enchanted with the spicy fragrance and deep colors of this Middle Eastern way with winter vegetables. Don’t hesitate to substitute canned tomatoes or frozen green beans if fresh aren’t available. And the truth is, you can cook up almost any other veg you want here: carrots, sweet potatoes, sliced red cabbage, for example.
For a tangy fresh side dish, try Ottolenghi’s Kohlrabi salad.
No lack of variety here on Green Prophet. We also offer you ten winter soups to choose from.
Keep the dish vegan and serve as is, or have each diner top their dish with a spoonful or two of yogurt.
Hearty Vegetable Tajine For Cozy Winter Dinners
Equipment
- 1 large, heavy pot or tajine cooking pot
- 1 small bowl
- 1 large bowl
Ingredients
Tajine Spice Mix
- 1 Tablespoon cardamom powder
- 1 Tablespoon coriander powder
- 1 Tablespoon cumin powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
- 3/4 teaspoon cayenne omit for non-spicy
- 1 -1.5 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
For The Tajine
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 red onion sliced; sub any type of onion
- 2 or 3 garlic cloves finely minced
- 1 lb. 600g/ butternut squash 1/2 a small, peeled, cut into 2.5cm / 1" cubes
- Small eggplant cut into 2.5cm / 1/2" cubes
- Small cauliflower head small, cut into bite size florets
- 1 bell pepper cut into 2.5cm / 1" pieces (red or yellow)
- 2 tomatoes seeds removed, cut into 1cm / 1/3" dice
- 2 ¾ cups water
- 1.5 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 10.5 oz/ 300g/ canned chickpeas drained
- 45 oz/150g green beans cut into 3.5cm / 1.5" pieces (~2 cups cut)
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1.5 tablespoon lemon juice
- Garnishes / for serving:
- Handful of slivered almonds toasted
- 1/4 cup coriander / cilantro roughly chopped
- Plain yogurt
- Pinch of paprika or cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Combine spice mix ingredients.
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook until onion is wilted, about 1 1/2 minutes, then remove to a large bowl.
- Add squash to the pan and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove to same bowl.
- Add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cook eggplant for 3 minutes until softened slighty. Remove to same bowl.
- Add 1 tablespoon oil; stir.
- Add bell pepper and cauliflower, cook for 2 minutes until the cauliflower is golden on the edges. Remove into bowl.
- Add tomato and cook for 1 minute.
- Add spice mix. Stir for 1 minute.
- Add all vegetables back to pot. Add water. It should just cover the vegetables, no more. Add salt and pepper.
- Stir, bring to simmer on stove, then transfer to oven for 30 minutes. Or continue simmering on the stove, covered, at low heat, instead.
- Remove from oven, add beans and chickpeas. Simmer for 15 minutes uncovered on stove on medium-low to cook the beans and reduce the sauce.
- Stir the lemon juice and zest in. The sauce will thicken with stirring a little.
- Before serving, sprinkle almonds, chopped cilantro, and a pinch of paprika over the top. Have a bowl of yogurt on the table for those who want to top their dish with it.
- Serve over rice or couscous.
- This tajine will keep for 5 days, refrigerated. It also freezes well, up to 3 months.
Author: Miriam Kresh
Miriam Kresh is an American ex-pat living in Israel. Her love of Middle Eastern food evolved from close friendships with enthusiastic Moroccan, Tunisian and Turkish home cooks. She owns too many cookbooks and is always planning the next meal. Miriam can be reached at miriam (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
