Moroccan inspired foods - pumpkin dip and tajine

**Thanks to all the well wishers - Nat is feeling much better - he had a day off yesterday and was able to relax. Last night he was barely coughing at all and not so cloggy. YAY!!**

I love the subtle flavours of Moroccan foods. The sweet spices and fruity flavours just make me enjoy the food - even if it is slightly mushy and over cooked (like last nights dinner). Yesterday I ran out of hummus - so overnight I defrosted a container of chickpeas and today I made some spicy pumpkin dip - now - I know that its not moroccan. But it does have a Moroccan spice blend in it - does that count?? So here is my Moroccan inspired day.



Spicy Pumpkin Dip
- This is another of mum's recipes - she found it in a magazine and cut it out years ago - but didn't keep anything that let me know which magazine to credit. I have changed it a little bit to reduce the fat content.

500g butternut pumpkin - cut into cubes
1 clove garlic
400g chickpeas (rinsed and drained if from a can - reserve the cooking liquid if you cooked them)
2 tbsp tahini
1 lemon - juiced
1 1/2 tsp Moroccan Spice Mix*
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/8 - 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (depending how hot you like your dips - I don't use much at all)

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Spray a baking tray with cooking spray - roast for about 40mins until soft
2. Process garlic in food processor (putting it in first means it gets chopped up enough)
3. Add remaining ingredients - season with salt and ground pepper.
4. Add cooking liquid (or water) to reach desired consistency. I found that this sets a lot, so if refrigerating it - make it runnier than you want - otherwise it will be a pate rather than a dip.
5. Devour!!!

*The ingredients in my moroccan spice mix are: salt, garlic (11%), cumin, paprika (10%), sugar, onion, tumeric (6%), pepper, citric food acid, parsley, red pepper, coriander (1%)


Moroccan Bean Stew
I got the flavour inspiration for this dish from the New Internationalist cookbook - Vegetarian Main Dishes From Around the World. I changed many of the veggies to suit what was in my fridge and so got a bit confused as to when I should add each vegetable in. The result was that my eggplant turned out quite mushy. Next time I will add it later. I have adjusted the recipe so that it will not be too overdone. You could really add any veggies that you wanted to - green beans, carrots and zucchini would all work really well.

This recipe was really comforting and damn easy (I still had some black eyed peas/beans in my freezer so I thought it would be a good dish to have.

Serves 4

1 onion - chopped
1 red capsicum - chopped
1 medium sweet potato - chopped
1 medium eggplant - cubed
4 tomatoes - chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
400g black eyed peas (retain the cooking water)
400g spinach - chopped
1/4 cup sultanas (or raisins)

1. Saute the onion in oil or water until it is transparent.
2. Add red capsicum and sweet potato and a little bit of the black-eyed peas cooking water. Cook about 10 minutes.
3. Put in the tomatoes, tomato paste, cinnamon, nutmeg, peas and eggplant and stir well. Season with salt and pepper and then place the spinach on top. Add more reserved liquid and stew until vegetables are tender (but not mushy) - about 20 mins.
4. Serve over rice or cous cous

Vegan MoFo - #2 - I have an assignment due... so instead I make a stew

Ok, so my rhyme isn't the greatest. But it's true. Whenever I have assignments and tests and exams where will you find me?? In the kitchen of course!! I find cooking is the best form of procrastination as I get the most lovely hugs and kisses from nat when he comes home from work to a house that is filled with yummy smells. Speaking of smells - the worst thing about our unit is that we get to smell what the unit downstairs are cooking for breakfast or dinner (or lunch if it is a weekend). That wouldn't be so bad if they baked nice things - but they live on the SAD (Standard Australian Diet - very closely related to the Standard American Diet) and so all we smell is fried foods - be it chips, fish, beef, lamb - its aweful. This morning at 7am it smelt like fish - and this evening it smelt like they hadn't changed the oil in their deep fryer for a while - yuck!

Wow I got off track. This dish has different flavours to what I usually make. I loosely based it on a recipe I found in a magazine a while back but I added the beans and changed the spices slightly. It tasted wonderful. There are heaps of leftovers and since I am going out tomorrow night - nat is more than happy to have leftovers tomorrow night which is a good indicator of how good a recipe is (usually I get leftovers if it is not so great).

Sweet potato, corn and bean stew

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 3 medium zucchini, cubed
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 green capsicum, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2x 400g cans diced tomatoes, drained (reserve the liquid in case it needs moistening)
• 1 can of kidney beans, drained (or equivalent soaked and cooked)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, to taste
• 2 cups frozen corn kernels

1. Saute onion, garlic, pepper and celery in oil or water, stirring, until onion begins to brown, about 7 minutes.
2. Add the kidney beans, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, bay leaf, paprika, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
3. Simmer uncovered over medium heat for 6 minutes.
4. Add the zucchini and cook covered about 20mins.
5. Remove the bay leaf.
6. Add the oregano, thyme and hot sauce to taste.
7. Add the corn.
8. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
9. Simmer uncovered for 10-15 mins until vegetables are tender and sauce is thick.
10. Serve over rice.