A Vegetable Love

Since this weekend will have quite a bit of  feasting (the planned Sunday birthday dinner for my brother is already in play:  shopping done, Mocha Ice Cream in the freezer, Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake cooling on the rack, etc.), I thought it wise to put a low fat, purely healthy yet delicious dish on our Saturday dinner menu. 

I reached back in my memory to a time where I was constantly on a diet (thankfully in the distant past, she said with a shudder).  During that period (the major portion of my adolescent/young adult life), I was constantly searching for flavorful, filling dishes that were mainly composed of vegetables, since those were the foods that were "unlimited" on most diets at the time.  Ratatouille's always good, but you can only eat so much of it.  Vegetable soups are wonderful and filling, and I made many of them.  I do have a special love, however, for a vegetable dish which I invented to fill the hunger of the constant dieter  --  but which serves well for reformed dieters, vegans, and good eaters of any category. 

Moroccan-Style  Vegetable Stew

Makes at least 8 servings

Nowadays I use olive oil in this dish, but if you wish, you can make do with no oil, by simply sweating the vegetables in a little water.  It will still form a nice thick stew.  It's delicious served with couscous, which is how we ate it, alongside a platter of roasted chicken in Meyer lemon-balsamic marinade.

1 large onion, diced
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. coriander
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (I like Turkish Aleppo), or more to taste
4 Tbsp. tomato paste
1/2 lb. of "baby-cut" carrots, or carrots cut into rounds or strips
1/2 lb  green beans, topped & tailed, halved or cut into approximately 2 inch lengths
1 yellow pepper, cut into small strips
1 red pepper, cut into small strips
2 medium zucchini, sliced into half-moons
1 15 oz. can of chick peas, drained
Salt and pepper to taste

In a pot large enough to eventually hold all the vegetables, heat the olive oil well and saute the onion until soft and translucent.  Add the spices and saute for a couple of minutes.  Stir in the tomato paste, and add enough water to form a thin sauce.  The method here is like that of a stir-fry -- add the long- cooking vegetables first, and the softer ones later on:  toss in the carrots, and let them cook for a few minutes, then the green beans and peppers, and at the end, when the harder veggies have become crisp-tender and you're almost ready to turn it off, add the zucchini and the chick peas.  I often turn it off at this point and just let the heat of the stew cook the zucchini.  You can also cook it in advance to this point, leaving everything just slightly undercooked, and then give it a last few minutes as you heat it to serve. 

Comments

[rowena]

Wow! I LOVE moroccan food!! I will certainly need to try this and also the chicken. Yum, I can already taste it!

Thanks so much for the restaurant suggestion Julie....I'll make a note of it in the address book. You had me at 'workingman's trattorias'.....I feel the same way, that those places frequented by truckers, labors, locals are really the best places to eat heartily and for REAL---without breaking your pocket. I'm grinning at all those fond memories of hunting for someplace to eat, keeping an eye out for huge delivery rigs. As much as I do appreciate a fancy dinner, there's nothing like knowing that someone's mamma (or papa!) is back there in the kitchen cooking in the way that her mother, her grandmother, her ancestors(!) have cooked for generations.

[rowena]

On second thought...no can do on the chicken. Lucky you to be able to get Meyer lemons!!!

[Julie]

Awww...I know how you feel. I'm dying to try those Bergamot Oranges that Clotilde posted about on Chocolate and Zucchini, but I don't think they exist over here. But you could use any lemon...

[Carolline]

This looks delicious, Julie. I'll certainly try this, as I'm sure you know I'm die-iting at the moment (i wish die-iting was in my distant past).The moroccan stew will always go well with cous-cous, as you've suggested. Thanks for the recipe.

[Juanabanana]

Yum yum, more veggie stories! Hey Julie,what about sharing your family's recipe for BORSCHT? omigod my mouth is watering so bad...