Big Bright Green Pleasure Tagine

Well hey there, how's it going?

Oh good, nice, good to hear.

Me? Oh, I'm fine. Finally.

After two weeks of feeling like death on a plate covered in bordelaise sauce, I finally went to the doctor.

Who, by the way, told me he was going out for breakfast before my turn, leaving me to wait in the hallway with a host of other people all wondering where this man was and why he wasn't doing his job.

Anyway, all I can say is, thank god for antibiotics. I finally feel basically normal again! My voice is no longer so raspy that I sound like Sling Blade! I can walk up a flight of stairs without hacking up a lung! I can breathe through my nose, unlike 98% of Packers fans (and yes, that is a verifiable fact; Packers fans are mouthbreathers)!

So to celebrate, I decided to give you guys a fast, healthy recipe that goes with this semi-theme I have of Sunday comfort food that A. doesn't take all day to make and B. doesn't leave you feeling bloated and sorry for yourself.

The Moroccans have a lot of things on lock, including but not limited to: mosaic artwork, culture and especially cuisine. The tagine (or tajine) is a sort of hat-looking earthenware dish from North Africa stuffed with all manner of delicious foods and left to cook over coals.

Also, high five if you know the song that I pillaged to get this post's title. If you don't know, go educate yourself and download the entire Simon and Garfunkel discography and think about what you've done.

In any case, most people don't have an actual tagine or an open coal pit, a dutch oven or large pot will suffice.

This tagine recipe is vegan but I have also added chicken and it turns out fantastically well. I am not sure the flavors would go great with red meat but if you have camel on hand, go for it. I've heard it tastes like chicken anyway.

This recipe comes together pretty quickly once you're done chopping all the ingredients so I suggest you get a jump on that. Also feel free to adjust the spice levels; it's a very malleable dish. I serve it on couscous (the food so nice they named it twice) but Tommy prefers it on rice because he has issues with couscous for whatever reason. Or maybe he just has issues.

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp. coriander
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. crushed reds
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 c. chopped white onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 2/3 c. vegetable or chicken broth, divided
3 tbs. tomato paste
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1" cubes
1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 tbs. lemon juice
Zest of one lemon

1/2 c. chopped green olives
1/2 c. golden raisins
3 tbs. parsley, chopped.

1.  Heat a large pot or dutch oven and grease lightly with olive oil. Add onion and cook for about 5 minutes or until starting to brown and stick to the pan. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.

2. Stir in 1/3 cup of the broth and continue to cook 4-5 minutes or until very tender. Stir in the spices and tomato paste, cook one minute more while stirring.





3. Add remaining broth, potato, chickpeas, olives, raisins, lemon juice and zest. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add zucchini and simmer covered for another 5 minutes until zucchini is tender but not mushy.


4. Stir in parsley and serve over couscous with another squeeze of lemon if you so desire.



NOTE: If you want to add chicken, increase the broth by 1 cup and the spices by half. Cube the chicken and add about 10 minutes into simmering.