Another Vegetable Tagine

Regular readers will note that I have been quiet in relation to blogging, well what can I say.  I have been really busy with work mostly that when I come home, I want the evenings to space out!  

So there has not been much in the way of creative or experimental cooking recently.  All the dishes that I have been made from scratch in recent weeks have been showcased on my blog before such as this Moroccan Vegetable Tagine based on one of my favourite recipes which you can find if you follow this link.  

This Vegetable Tagine though,  was made with the last of my courgettes from the garden. Of course its bulked up with other vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, sweet potato and chickpeas served with couscous. If you look closely there is some dried fruit in it as well, like apricots and prunes, I don't always use dried fruit in my tagine. 

I am sharing my Vegetable Tagine made with the last of the homegrown courgettes with Eat Your Greens which is hosted by The Veg Hog this month.  

Please do join in there is still time and it would be lovely to have your company at the #EatYourGreens veg table.

I am also sharing this Vegetable Tagine with My Legume Love Affair, a monthly event celebrating legumes and my tagine contains chickpeas.  MLLA is administered by Lisa's Kitchen and co-hosted every month by a different blogger, this month it is Sizzling Tastebuds. 

Other Tagine style recipes
Cinnamon Vegetable Tagine

Chickpea Tagine with Quince

Ms Marmite Lovers Carrot, Pepper and Red Lentil Tagine.  

Moroccan Tagine with Spiced Seed Confetti

North African Tagine

Pumpkin and Apricot Tagine

Winter Vegetable Tagine

Cinnamon Chickpea Tagine and Bedminster Street Graffiti Art 2016 Part 3

Here is final part 3/3 of Bedminster Street Graffiti Art from 2016 that I did not get round to sharing a few years back.  

I know its not to everyones taste - but they do make for interesting viewing.

I haven't been cooking much of late, but I did make this Moroccan Chickpea Tagine from Cornucopia.  You can find the recipe here.  It was quite heady from the cinnamon stick, but nice to eat none the less.

I am sharing my Cinnamon Tagine with Eat Your Greens which is hosted by The VegHog this month as it has some courgettes in it; and My Legume Love Affair, a monthly event celebrating legumes.  Adminsitered by Lisa's Kitchen and co-hosted every month by a different blogger, this month it is Seduce Your Tastebuds. 

Other Tagine style recipes

Chickpea Tagine with Quince

Ms Marmite Lovers Carrot, Pepper and Red Lentil Tagine.  

Moroccan Tagine with Spiced Seed Confetti

North African Tagine

Pumpkin and Apricot Tagine

Winter Vegetable Tagine

Winter Vegetable Tagine

This Winter Vegetable Tagine is a super duper recipe for making the most of winter vegetables and chances are if your a cook that likes to dabble in spices from around the world, then you may already have Ras el Hanout in your kitchen cupboards too.  So what's stopping you - make this hearty  flavour packed dish.  

The winter vegetables include: carrots, mushrooms, parsnips, turnip aka swede, new potatoes and  some dates which melted into the thick sauce.  To finish off some nutty chickpeas and harissa.

D said this is perhaps one of the best Tagines I have ever made and that is high praise indeed as I have made many in the past.  I have to agree with him and I am not that into sweet root vegetables either, but here I was totally swayed.  I think the slow cooking benefited the dish big time as the flavours infused the vegetables.  Its best to serve this Tagine with couscous, but I didn't have any at home, so it was served with Basmati rice - twice!   

I have absolutely no doubt that Sarah Beattie would be gracious and grant me permission to share the recipe for this Winter Vegetable Tagine on my blog, but the cookbook: Meat Free Any Day is reasonably priced, not like those glossy hardback coffee table cookbooks.  This is one cookbook you will use if your a down to earth home cook like me, as its real proper food that you really want to eat.  You can find the full recipe in Sarah Beattie Author of Meat-Free Any Day: Food For All Reasons. Check out Sarah Beatties Facebook Page too.  I sharing this with Cook Once, Eat Twice hosted by Searching For Spice. 

Mildred's Cauliflower and Green Olive Tagine

In more of an effort to make use of my cookbooks from my Vegetarian Library, today we have Mildred's The Cookbook.  

I  was fortunate to win Mildred's The Cookbook last year.  

I've made a few recipes from it including  the most delicious vegan Brownies with Peanut Butter and a smoky Lapsang Chestnut Mushroom Strogonoff.  This time I wanted  to try something with piquancy.  I decided on the Cauliflower and Green Olive Tagine.  I like olives, it wasn't always this way and to satisfy D it had his favourite white vegetable.  

Although the Tagine was filling and full of different textures from the cauliflower, carrots and chickpeas, we both felt the sauce lacked depth.  Why? This recipe does not have onions, but is substituted with celery sticks.   I do understand the need for such recipes.  When I did a bit of freelance vegetarian cooking, one of my customers had an allergy to alliums: the onion family, other avoided onions for religious reasons. I was well aware of people having different dietary needs and some having  allergens, mostly towards peanuts or an intolerance of gluten, but alliums was a new one to me.  I adapted a few of my recipes for him.   I am thankful and very fortunate that I do not have any allergens, so can enjoy my food without a second thought, but not every one is in the same position. 

Ms Marmite Lovers Carrot, Pepper and Red Lentil Tagine

I quite like Moroccan Tagines, but have been a bit bored with the Traditional 7 Vegetable version designed for vegetarians, so when I saw Ms Marmite Lovers Carrot, Pepper and Red Lentil Tagine from here new cookbook V is for Vegan, I knew instantly that I wanted to try it. I had all the ingredients to hand: black olives, ras al hanout; even saffron and orange blossom water; and more impressively my very own Tajine, though I admit I don't use it much. 

For those of you who have been reading my blog for years, will know that I am not vegan and nor is Ms Marmite Lover, who like me is a vegetarian.  But we do both indulge in a lot of vegan savoury and sweet eats.  I've been following Ms Marmite Lover since 2009 when I learned of her kick starting ,perhaps the first ever Underground Restaurant in the United Kingdom and inspiring many many others to follow.  These have of course since evolved into Pop Up Restaurants.  There was once a time that I imagined setting my own up, but it never happened from my 1 bed flat in Scotland, though I did have a go at it with my vegetarian culinary adventure a couple of years back when I moved to Wales - who knows, I may give it a go again in the future, who knows ... 

I actually had Ms Marmite Lovers Black & Green Cheesecake with Bengali Lime & Avocado bookmarked to make first, but the fact is avocados a key ingredient for the cheesecake do not come into my home that often, and when it does it is quickly transformed into a guacamole. I do intend to make the Oreo base cheesecake though, just a matter of time.  

Okay back to the Carrot, Pepper and Red Lentil Tagine.  

Ms Marmite Lover I listen to you, read your blog and trust you and your recipes, but I have a confession to make. I hope you will forgive me.  I skipped the roasting of the peppers and peeling the skin away, purely for time,  I assure you though that I followed every other instruction written for the recipe, the use of Orange Blossom water, saffron, cinnamon stick and Ras el Hanout and black olives.  

Once the Carrot, Pepper and Red Lentil Tagine was made and served up, I was really apprehensive of D's attitude towards the finished dish.  It had red lentils and I remembered his reaction when I made the Berbere Lentils a little while back.  Well, he didn't look overly enamoured by the look of the tagine, but after a couple of mouthfuls, he praised it as being 'really good, really really good'.  Wow, praise indeed for a humble looking Tagine.  I served it as suggested with fluffy couscous, as well as some preserved lemons, either home-made or from a jar and some pickled chillies, because I always like a little kick.

I am sure Ms Marmite Lover Kerstin Rodgers aka Ms Marmite Lover won't mind me sharing her recipe here, but I am not going to as I would like to encourage you to get your own copy of her exciting cookbook V is for Vegan.   I promise you its not a basic vegan cookbook, its not hippy dippy, its not about being princess of the greens, its not even a table top glamour cookbook - its much more that, its about real vegan food. Its bursting with vivid colours, fabulous food styling and the photography is just gorgeous.  For that reason it should not come as a surprise to you that it's one of my Bedside cookbooks.   

Cauliflower Steaks with Harissa Oil

Like many vegetarians and vegans exploring blogospheres virtual library of cookbooks, I was introduced to the idea of 'cauliflower steaks' about 6 - 8 years ago.  Upon discovering it, I tried it at some point  and was a convert to appreciating that off white brain like vegetable: cauliflower.  I have to say its become one of my  preferred ways of eating cauliflower, somehow roasting it in the oven changes not only the texture, but the flavour into something actually quite delicious.  I know for some of you to call a piece of cauliflower a steak, may seem quite absurd, but  they are actually quite chunky and dare I say 'meaty', so for those of you a little apprehensive about this, please don't mock them until you've tried them, please.    

Vegan Moroccan Tagine Flaky Filo Pies

Gosh yesterday it was proper hot sunshine weather. A sunny Sunday when most families and friends decided on impulse to have a BBQ, well my family were no exception either.  Coming from a South Asian background, the BBQ menu was Anglo-Indian.  There was meaty burgers, tandoori chicken, spiced fish fillets, shammi kebabs and for the veg head like me - vegetable samosa with yogurt mint chutney and salsa salad.  I also brought along my own small contribution, Mango Trifle (to be showcased later in a different blog post), as well as these Moroccan Tagine Flaky Filo Twist pastry pies which happen to be vegan.  I was really glad of the restful Sunday, only thing missing was that glass of red wine.   

These  Moroccan Tagine Flaky Filo pastry pies were served with spiced couscous and a little harissa oil. I know I grumbled a little while ago, when I made these very same filling in a hot water crust pastry, but I have to say they worked pretty well in filo pastry.  The flaky filo pastry is a lot more delicate and the flavours inside really complimented the lightness of the filo pastry, unlike the the sturdiness of the hot water crust pastry.  

Harissa Bean Burger

This 'Harissa Bean Burger' is the kind of burger you eat in your own company, or in the company of good friends and most trusted of family members, as you and they are not going to look pretty after biting into these.
Although, nice and crispy on the outside, this was one messy mushy beany burger. As I chomped on my burger bun, the spicy beany filling was squirting out from all directions. Yes, you need a big plate or a rather large napkin, otherwise you will have a stained top for the rest of the day. I served these with a little dollop of homemade yellow chilli jam.
I have made harissa in the past, but for this recipe I used a tube of harissa that's been in my fridge for goodness knows how long. I don’t know if its lost its spice heat or what, but it was not particularly strong in flavour.

Priya of Now Serving is hosting the Fast Food Not Fat Food Event this month. Priya gently promped me to submit this healthy looking bean burger to the event. The event is about presenting a healthier version of our favourite fast foods. I had not thought of it, but actually this bean burger is healthy. Not just because its full of beans that are low in fat and high in fibre. But also because they are packed with nutrients in the form of minerals, protein and vitamins. Also in its favour, this bean burger is shallow fried.

Harissa Bean Burgers
Makes 10 - 14

Ingredients

110g black-eyed beans
110g green or brown lentils
2 tablespoons olive oil plus extra for shallow frying
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
1 red pepper, de-seeded and finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 – 3 tablespoon harissa paste
1 tablespoon fresh coriander, minced
2 tablespoons plain flour
salt and freshly milled black pepper
Method
Soak the black-eyed beans overnight in cold water. The other lentils won't need soaking.
To make the burgers
Once the soaking is done, drain the black-eyed beans. In a medium-sized saucepan, add the drained beans and the lentils, then pour in 1 pint (570 ml) water, then bring everything up to a gentle simmer and let them cook for about 40-45 minutes, or until the beans are completely soft. Drain and mash them.
In a large frying pan, add 2 tablespoon of olive oil, then heat it over a medium heat and add the onion, carrot, pepper, chilli and garlic. Sauté them all together for about 6 minutes until all the vegetables are soft.

After that mix all the vegetables into the mashed bean and lentil mixture, add the harissa paste, coriander and season to taste. Then dampen your hands and form the mixture into 10 - 14 round cakes. Then place them on a lightly oiled tray, cover with clingfilm and keep them in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before cooking.
When you're ready to serve the bean burgers, coat them lightly with flour, then heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil is hot, reduce the heat to medium and fry the bean burgers for 3 minutes on each side until they are crisp and golden, adding more oil to the pan if necessary.

Drain them on kitchen paper and serve immediately. Recipe adapted from Delia Smith Vegetarian Collection.

A vegan North AfricanTagine

When people think of Moroccan tagines or tajines, they generally associate them to be made with Summer vegetables that echo of Mediterranean holidays or Autumnal vegetables, such as this one I made last year. However, this version includes a vegetable associated with cold wintery nights, the Savoy cabbage. I came across this vegan version of the Tagine recipe, whilst looking for inspiring ways to enjoy eating the seasonal Savoy cabbage.
I know the green wrinkly Savoy cabbage in a tagine may not sound as appealing as golden nuggets of butternut squash, but trust me this really works. And please, please don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients, they do all compliment each other. Another thing, please don't think this recipe is not for you just because you don't have a tagine. Although a tagine would be good, it is not necessary. You can still make this at home tagine-style, I often do.

This tagine is neither too sweet or spicy, until of course you top it with harissa and then your tongue is transported for a few moments to another place, but taken with a spoonful of sweet delicate couscous the flavours are mellowed.
This recipe comes from one of my well thumbed cookbooks New Food for Thought by Jane Noraika. Food for Thought is a vegetarian restaurant in Covent Garden that I have yet to frequent should I find myself in London again, but I have been fortunate to try out some of the recipes in the comfort of my home. The book does not have any photographs, this may hinder some people from picking it up, but not me. I like the ‘down to earth’ homely appeal of the recipes. What I also like about this particular book was it makes an occasion of the meal with recommended accompaniments, many of the other cookbooks I have at home fail to do this and you are left wondering what else to put on the plate so it is a proper meal.

The creative people at Food for Thought restaurant have kindly granted me permission to reproduce the original recipe on my blog. I would like to Thank them, especially Vanessa Garrett for permitting me to share it with you all. Please enjoy making this recipe in your home too.
Marrakesh Tagine with Harissa sauce and almond flecked couscous
Serve 4 – 6
Ingredients
2 tablespoons oil
½ red onion, thinly sliced
½ white onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoon cumin seeds, lightly roasted and ground
2 teaspoons coriander seeds, lightly roasted and ground
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 fresh red chilli, finely chopped
2 x 400g tin tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato puree
50g dried apricots, cut into strips
25g raisins
75g black olives, pitted
1 x 400g tin chickpeas,
1 large potato, cut into wedges
225g carrots, cut into rounds (I used home grown baby carrots)
½ medium Savoy cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
Handful of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
Handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped
Method
Place the oil in a large saucepan with the onions, all the spices and the chilli. Cook gently until the onion is soft. Add the tinned tomatoes and tomato puree and cook for a further 10 minutes. Add the apricots, raisins, olives and potato wedges. Continue cooking until the potato is tender.
Cook carrots in boiling salted water until tender. Drain.
Heat a little oil in a large pan and stir fry the cabbage until it just starts to go limp.
Combine all the vegetables and chickpea with the sauce. Gently bring to the boil and stir in the fresh herbs. Serve immediately with Harissa and couscous

For the Harissa
Ingredients
3 large fresh red chillies
1 clove garlic
2 teaspoons coriander seeds, roasted and ground
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, roasted and ground
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon tomato puree
Pinch of salt
Method
Place the whole chillies in a frying pan without any oil. On a gently heat, dry until the skin begins to blacken and blister. Remove from the heat, allow to cook, then de-seed. Wash your hands immediately afterwards. (I have to admit, because I was impatient, I just added the whole chilli, yes seeds included to the food processor).
Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
Transfer the harissa to a jar with a lid. It will keep for 2 – 3 weeks in the fridge.
Serve with couscous and preserved lemons if you have some.

Almond flecked couscous

Ingredients

50g sultanas

100g couscous

50g flaked almonds

Juice 1/2 lemon

50g flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

salt and pepper

Method

Cover the sultanas with boiling water and leave to become plump. Drain.

Add enough water to the couscous so that the grains are just moist.

Place the almonds in a frying pan and dry fry until golden.

Fluff up the couscous and gently stir in all the ingredients. Season to taste.

The original recipe has some melted butter added to it, but I have to admit I omitted this as I thought there would be enough moisture and flavour from all the other components.

Lemony coucous with chermoula mushrooms

Like the spices sumac and za’atar that have recently begun to appear in the food columns of lifestyle magazines, it was only a matter of time that chermoula would make its appearance too, as either a dressing or a sauce. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with chermoula, Chermoula is a thick, powerful green herby paste. It is often made with a mixture of herbs namely coriander, cumin, lemon juice, olive oil, pickled lemons, garlic and salt. Its roots can be found in North Africa. Chermoula is used as marinade in Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian cooking to coat either fish or seafood. You will find a number of recipes on the world wide web and cookbooks, but there is no fixed way of making chermoula. Everyone seems to make it according to their palette and each recipe seems to use different spices, but the two main ingredients that are constant are fresh coriander and garlic.
I flew from my parents nest in the mid 1990s for college and then eventually university. Although my mother had successfully instilled every domestic goddess skill there was to learn into me from a very early age, I was never sold on the idea of being 'a good housewife' or even remotely interested in being in the kitchen. In fact, I actively rebelled against these assumed gender roles and subsequently viewed such skills as a chore and a way to keep women in the house.

The only reason I found my way to the kitchen and more importantly the cooker, was the fact that I really missed my mothers cooking, the associated aromas, as well as certain flavours: fresh, herby, spicy, earthy, sour, zingy and so on. Whilst at Uni, I was always hankering for bold flavours to make my tongue feel alive and looking for ways to satisfy this urge and thus my interest in cooking was reignited, first for myself and then for others. It was around this time, that I also discovered the adventurous and experimental cook in me, and the hanging out at cookbook section and shops with vaguely kitchen related things became more than a habit.
All of this is way of saying how I first came across chermoula. I was introduced to it by Nadine Abensur, not literally of course but via the book Cranks Fast Food. I made it from scratch and served it with oven baked sweet potato chips. Oh my goodness - it was really flavourful – one I recommend especially if you love coriander. Chermoula is so versatile that it can be used to coat vegetables or even grains. This recipe is adapted from the chef Paul Gayler. Here the ‘chermoula’ gives mushrooms a tantalizing aroma as they cook. Now my husband is no fan of couscous, but this is the second couscous dish he has declared 'Delicious'.

Lemon Couscous and chermoula mushrooms
Serves 4
Ingredients
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 generous teaspoon dried chilli flakes
200g - 300g chestnut mushrooms, halved
1 tablespoon harissa paste (for a harissa recipe follow this link)
400g can tomatoes, chopped
Small handful of fresh coriander, minced
200g couscous
250ml vegetable stock, boiling
Juice of ½ lemon or to taste
1 tablespoon Lemon pepper (see below for recipe)
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Place the couscous in a bowl with the vegetable stock and lemon juice, and cover. Leave for 5 minutes until the couscous has swollen. Fluff it up with a fork, cover again and leave for 5 more minutes. Add the lemon pepper, season to taste with salt and pepper and keep warm
Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion and garlic over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the cumin and chilli and cook for a few seconds before adding the mushrooms and harissa. Fry for a couple of minutes, then add the tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 8 – 10 minutes. Stir in the chopped coriander. Serve with lemon couscous topped with the chermoula mushrooms.

When finely ground (unlike this one), dried lemon zest is a useful ingredient for flavouring grains and perking up other bland food.
Making Lemon pepper
Preheat the oven to gas mark 1. Peel 2 lemons with a potato peeler.

Spread the peel out on a clean baking sheet and bake for 1 hour until the skins are dried and shrivelled. Leave to cool.

When cool, place the peel in a coffee grinder and grind to a fine powder. Store the lemon pepper in an airtight container for up to 1 month. Slightly adapted from Paul Gaylers Vegetarian Cookbook.

Moroccan Tagine with spiced seed confetti

Now I admit I am getting a bit pretentious especially with my food title, but there are so many Moroccan tagine recipes about, that I have to try and make mine stand out somehow – so spiced seed confetti it was.

Anyway, last week I served this Moroccan tagine simply with couscous with some fresh minced coriander herbs stirred through it. In the past I have served this tagine with couscous wedges too.

For this dish, you will need some harissa. Harissa can purchased ready made in small jars at delicatessens or in tubes at some large supermarkets now, but I haven’t found a brand I like, as I find them too harsh. So I make my own home-made cheats version, its suits my taste buds, plus it stores well in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
To make this dish look celebratory, I decided to scatter some roasted butternut squash seeds lightly coated in garam masala. So why celebratory? Well my husband, D finally graduated with his PhD, so this meal had to have a little spark to it, hence the spiced seed confetti.

Vegan Moroccan Tagine with spiced seed confetti
Serves 6
Ingredients
1 large aubergine, cut into even sized cubes
½ butternut squash, peeled and cut into even sized cubes
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 large white onion
1 small red onion
½ teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons cumin seeds (1 teaspoon ground)
2 teaspoons coriander seeds, ground
1 – 2 red chillies, finely chopped (de-seed if you wish)

2 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon of tomato puree
60g dried apricots, cut in half
20g raisins
80g black olives, pitted and sliced
1 large floury potato, cut into even sized cubes
About 4 carrots, thickly sliced
1 x 400g chickpeas, drained and rinsed
A large bunch of coriander, finely chopped
Salt to taste
Method
In a roasting tray, add aubergine cubes and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and roast in oven for 20 – 30 minutes until golden. Set aside to cool
In another roasting tin, add butternut squash cutes and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and roast in oven for 20 minutes, until cooked through. Set aside to cool.Heat the remaining oil in a wide pan. Add the onion, cumin, coriander and chilli and cook gently for 2 minutes until the onions are softened and translucent. Stir in the tomatoes and tomato puree and cook for 15 minutes. Add the potatoes and cook for 5 minutes, then add the carrots, apricots and raisins. Continue to cook for 40 - 45 minutes until the potatoes and carrots are tender. Add the olives, chickpeas, aubergine and butternut squash cubes, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, stir in coriander and season to taste.

For the Harissa sauce
50g large red chillies, sliced. I like to keep the seeds in for more heat, but feel free to deseed.
1 garlic clove
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3 – 4 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon tomato puree
A pinch of salt
Method

Blitz all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Simple as that.