Moroccan Stew

I found this on Runner's World's website. Since I had eggplant and zucchini to use up, it looked like a good bet. That said, I wouldn't call it an unqualified success; if you go look at the page I've linked to, you'll see that whoever wrote it has no idea how much stuff should actually go in - 3 cups of onion, 4 cups of zucchini? Serves 6? How much do these people eat?

On closer inspection, the photograph at the top of the article is obviously not the dish described. Maybe that should have been a warning sign, but what the hell - Runner's World is not exactly known as a source for gourmet recipes.

So I made some alterations, and then some more alterations. I'll write the ingredients list with the amount of stuff I cut up; see the notes section for more information.

Ingredients

• 1 biggish onion, chopped
  
• 2 T. garlic
  
• 1 tsp ground cumin
  
• 1 tsp turmeric
  
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 9-10 baby carrots, chopped
  
• 1 large sweet potato, chopped
  
• 1 eggplant, chopped (I used 1/2 Japanese eggplant, 1/2 traditional aubergine)
  
• 3/4 zucchini, chopped
  
• 1 tin diced tomatoes
  
• 1 tin chickpeas
• 1/2 cup raisins (I used a "raisins and cherries" mix)
  

Methodology

1. Put about an inch of water in the bottom of a biggish pan and throw the onion in. Bring it to a boil, then add garlic and spices. Mix. Add the rest of the veggies, the tomatoes, and the chickpeas. Add the raisins.

2. Mix well and add about 1 c. water. Cover and let cook until veggies are tender, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Serve with bread.

Notes

*Initially, this tasted like a big bowl of vegetables, and not a particularly inspiring one. There's no salt in the recipe, which makes it kind of bland. I would have said 5-6/7 on the disaster scale.

*After a couple of days in the fridge, however, this had somehow morphed and become a super delicious stew. With a pinch of salt on top and heated in the microwave, it made a great lunch at work, and probably it will be lunch today as well. 2/7.

*I have to admit that even my biggest pot wasn't big enough for the quantity of veggies I cut up. If I were doing it again, I'd use only 1/2 eggplant total, plus about 1 zucchini and a small onion. It might be worth using a smaller sweet potato, too. The spices were a good mix, but I'd add more salt earlier on. And less water; better just to keep an inch at the bottom and keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn.

*I'd almost recommend making this a day ahead of time.

Curried Kidney Beans (rajma)

Via the Veg Lounge. Because kidney beans are good for you.

Ingredients

• 1 tin red kidney beans, drained and washed
  
• about 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 T. garlic, chopped
• 1/2 tin whole tomatoes, chopped
• salt, cayenne pepper, garam masala

Methodology

1. Put some oil in the bottom of a pan and add the onions and garlic. After they have cooked for a few minutes, add about 1 tsp. garam masala and a sprinkling of salt and cayenne pepper.

2. Add the tomatoes and about 1/4 c. water and cook for about 5 minutes. When it starts looking sauce-like, add the kidney beans and cook for about 5 more minutes, until it looks cohesive and not like an assemblage of ingredients. Add about 1 tsp. more of garam masala, 1/2 tsp. cayenne, 1 tsp. salt.

3. Eat. Goes well with bread or brown rice.

Notes

*Warm and tasty. Fairly low calorie, too - kidney beans are 100 calories per half cup.

*That's it. Really easy. It's a nice pretty purple/red colour, too.

Quinoa Squash Stew

From Epicurious, somewhat.

Ingredients

Stew
2 tablespoons olive oil or margarine
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
\1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup water
1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 cups 1-inch cubes peeled butternut squash
2 cups cubed peeled carrots

Quinoa
1 cup quinoa (a grain, available at the grocery store) 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil or 2 T. margarine, etc.
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup finely chopped peeled carrot
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 cups water

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
a few T. fresh basil, chopped

Methodology

1. Quinoa: put garlic, spices, and oil in a biggish pot. Add onion and carrot and saute until it begins to brown. Add quinoa and water. Bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes.

2. Stew: Put garlic and oil in. Add spices. Add onions and carrot and saute briefly. Add squash, tomatoes, and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer until cooked, about 15 minutes.

3. Mix about half the cilantro and basil into the stew. Serve stew over quinoa and sprinkle with more herbs.

Notes

*Healthy, tasty, and looks pretty on a plate. Win on three levels. For best effect, I'd use a green plate.

Moroccan Chickpea Soup (Harira)

Based on this recipe from Epicurious.

Ingredients

2 15 oz tins chickpeas, drained
1 (28 oz) tin diced tomatoes
1 large onion, chopped
3 T. garlic oil
2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed or what have you
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cumin, plus a bit
2/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 cups vegetable broth or bouillon and water
1 cup lentils
1/2 c. orzo
1 lemon

Methodology

1. Chop onion and garlic and put in a pot with the oil. You can use butter or olive oil if you want, I've just been using garlic oil because it has fewer calories. Also it's delicious.

2. Add spices and stir, wait for a couple of minutes. Add tomatoes, cilantro, chickpeas, lentils, broth or bouillon/water. Cover and bring to a boil, then simmer until lentils are cooked (about 30 minutes).

3. When lentils are (almost) tender, add orzo and cook for another 10 minutes or so until everything is done. Serve with lemon and bread (we had rye/pumpernickel swirl, which was good).

Notes

*Wow, what awesome soup. Seriously. Daniel suggests adding raisins, which I could get behind. Alternatively, dates. Also, spinach is a possibility.

*Makes 6 (large) servings, about 270 calories a piece. Plus loads of protein, which is good for you.

Dal and Carrot Stew

Based on the recipe from Dan and Claire's Cooking Disaster Index. See guys, I tried to follow a recipe (tried really hard).

Ingredients

3/4 c. lentils (brown)
4 packets bullion and 2.5 c. water
2 carrots (chopped)
2 onions (chopped)
1 tin tomatoes (the small size)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
2 tsp. oil
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. coriander
1/2 tsp. turmeric
Salt (to taste)
1 tsp. cayenne pepper

Methodology

1. As in the other recipe, put the lentils, carrots, onions, garlic, and tomatoes in a pot and add 3 packets of bullion and 1.5 c. water (I'm assuming you're using powdered bullion. If you're not, just make 1.5 c. of stock and put that in). Bring it to a boil, then turn it down and let it simmer for a while. Perhaps now would be a good time to make some chapati.

2. Heat the oil and the spices in another pan for about a minute. Add salt. Put aside.

3. When the lentils are cooked, turn off the burner. Put half the soup in a bowl and blend it (I use an immersion blender, which works well for getting the chunks out without destroying the texture of the lentils).

4. Add the blended soup back into the main pot. Put in the oil and spices, another packet of bullion, and another cup of water. Mix. Put it back on the heat and warm it up if needed. Enjoy!

Notes

*Also super easy. I did it this way because I have only two pots (a small one and a big one) which made it difficult to do both this and the chapati simultaneously (I needed the wok to cook the bread). But it came out really well.

*If you make 5 servings, only 90 calories/serving. Wow!

*This and the chapati get 1/7 on the disaster scale. I'm awesome (and so are Dan and Claire, who came up with the original. Thanks, guys!)

Curried Lentil and Spinach Stew

Based (very loosely) off this recipe from epicurious.com.

Ingredients:
2 tsp margarine
1 T garlic
1 onion
3 tsp curry powder
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
2.5 c. water
2 packets bullion
2 c. spinach (approx.)
1 c. lentils
1 tin chickpeas (approx. 2.5 cups)
1/2 T. brown sugar

Methodology:

1. Chop the onion thinly. Saute margarine and garlic in pan, add onion and mix until starting to look cooked. Add curry and pepper.
2. Add water and bullion and spinach. When the spinach is wilted and the water is beginning to simmer, add the chickpeas and lentils.
3. Cook until lentils are done, adding more water as necessary. Add brown sugar, salt, peper, etc.

Makes 5 1 cup servings, approximately 145.5 calories/serving.

Notes:

This was really good. Also it takes a while, and was probably the wrong recipe to choose after a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu work out that left me feeling like I'd been hit with rolling pins for 2 hours. I am covered with bruises, and I was ready to eat my own arm off by the time the cooking was done.

I threw in some mushrooms (the sad remains of pasta sauce experiments from last week) and used half red onion, half yellow. I also used spinach instead of Swiss Chard or Kale because I was bumming around the market after practice (looking, I'm sure, like I'd just been mugged in a back alley) and I didn't want to muck around trying to decide wtf Swiss Chard is.) It turned out well. 2/7 on the disaster index, only because of my own idiocy in choosing it tonight instead of some other, less hungry time. I suggest serving with pita or whole wheat bread.

Lentil Stew

I tried the lentil stew again, with a slightly different recipe:

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato
1 small onion
1/2 large green bell pepper
1/2 c. brown rice
1/2 c. lentils
1/3 c. orzo
garlic
~1/2 T. margarine
1 packet vegetable bullion
spices to taste (suggested: salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, chili powder)

The methodology is about the same as this version: put garlic and margerine in pan, add veg and bullion powder, add rice and lentils with 2 c. water and cook, add orzo, spice, eat. The major differences are that I put on hot sauce and cheddar cheese instead of parmesan and served it with whole wheat toast.

People are of two minds about tomatoes in lentil soup, with Dan and Claire coming down on the for side and myself on the against. I'd have added turmeric if I had any, though. Also possibly curry powder or its constituents (garam marsala, cinnamon, etc).

Yay. Makes about 6 servings, 150 calories each.