Moroccan Vegetable Tagine

Moroccan Vegetable Tagine-In a Crock Pot

The herbs and spices mixed with roots and fruits in this stew come together like a well-orchestrated symphony. Serve over potatoes, quinoa or your favorite whole grain.

Prep Time – 1 hr

Cook Time – 3 hrs

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: Moroccan

Keyword: Almonds, Cinnamon, easy, oil-free, potato, quinoa, root vegetable, tomato 

Cost: $10 USD total

Equipment

• crockpot

Ingredients

• 1 large onion white, or yellow, roughly chopped
• 1-2 3-4 inch cinnamon sticks or 1-2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 inch fresh ginger root or peeled and grated or minced (or 1 tsp ground ginger root powder instead)
• 3 LARGE cloves garlic minced or pressed in a garlic press
• 1 tsp cumin seed ground
• salt to taste
• 2-3 tsp harissa paste or dried harissa powder amount depends on how peppery-hot you want the dish
• 2 cups chopped tomatoes canned or fresh
• 1 lemon juice and zest
• 1 handful fresh cilantro torn or chopped
• 1 small pumpkin, or other winter squash (butternut, acorn) peeled, and cut into 1-2 inch cubes
• 1 sweet potato unpeeled, cut into 2 inch cubes
• 2-3 carrots unpeeled, cut into 2 inch thick rounds
• 1 zucchini unpeeled, cut into 2 inch thick rounds
• 7-10 dried apricots cut each in half
• ½ cup green olives whole, pitted
• ½ – 1 cup garbanzo beans pre-cooked or canned
• 2 Tbs raisins
• Serve over quinoa, couscous, rice, potaoes or a combination of available whole grains.

Instructions

Tomato Sauce First

1. To saute WITHOUT OIL: Over medium heat, bring a heavy-bottom stainless steel pan to “mercury-ball temperature.” That is when the pan is hot enough so that a 1/4 teaspoon of water rolls on the bottom of the pan like a ball of mercury when it is dropped into the pan. See this link for further description https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB-SCA1reqE
2. When the pan is hot enough, add the onions and cinnamon. Sauté till fragrant.
3. Add garlic, ginger and cumin seed. Sauté to combine over medium heat.
4. Add harissa, tomatoes, lemon juice, and fresh cilantro. Cover and bring mixture to boil, stirring periodically. Once boiling, reduce heat to low.

All The Rest

1. Transfer the sauce to a crockpot. Add winter squash, carrots, sweet potato, zucchini, olives, raisins and apricots. Stir to combine. Make sure all vegetables and fruits are tucked into the tomato sauce.
2. Cover with the lid and cook on low. Don’t peek until winter squash is tender, at least 1 hour.
3. When squash is tender, add garbanzos and stir gently. Do not break the the veggies when stirring. Keep them big and chunky just the way you put them into the pot.
   
   Add salt to taste when finished cooking.
   
   
4. Serve over cooked quinoa, whole grains, or potatoes. or Garnish with roasted almonds, fresh cilantro and/or fresh mint leaves.

Notes

There are few helpful things to know when preparing a vegetable tagine. 

1. There is no need to use oil when sautéing the onions and cinnamon for the tomato sauce. If you use a properly heated pan (see link above), the onion and cinnamon will release their own essential oils, which are sufficient to sauté. The whole olives added at the end of the recipe impart the whole food olive-y lusciousness.
2. Leave the veggies big and chunky. The long cooking time should assure that they are soft when served.
3. Keep the lid closed and the steam in the pot.. DO NOT give in to the temptation to peek and stir. The idea is to slowly sweat the veggies, leaving them velvety smooth. 
4. I happened to have rum-soaked raisins in my refrigerator so I used them. They worked very nicely with the other ingredients.