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

Now I know that the web has a million of these recipes, but...

Well VeganMoFo is upon us. That is, October is the vegan month of food. Isa at the PPK invited bloggers to post as much as possible (at least 20 times) during the month about vegan food and living. It you want any more info or want to join just click on the link above.

Anyway - here is one of the first posts for Vegan MoFo as, being an Aussie, October happens much earlier here than other parts of the world.

I am going to start my month by blogging about my favourite comfort food.

Hummus, I grew up on the stuff. I could eat a whole batch in a day... ok maybe not quite a day but I could eat it pretty quickly. I have never really been fond of the store bought stuff - particularly because it has oil and almost always has lots of preservatives. One of the first recipes I had to master when I moved out of home was how to make hummus (I also realised that I was going to have to get a food processor quick smart as well - one of the most important pieces of equipment in my kitchen is my food processor - I got it at the tip shop about a week after moving out of home).

So... this recipe has been passed down through the generations.... well ok its been passed down from mum to me. I love it and I find that it is slightly different to the other hummus recipes out there in the world.


Mum's Hummus

2 cups cooked chickpeas (reserve liquid)
Juice of half a lemon
3tbsp tahini
2tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic - crushed
squeeze orange juice (optional)
salt to taste
extra lemon juice and tahini to taste

1. Blend all ingredients till smooth and creamy - add reserved chickpea liquid to achieve desired consistancy,
2. Add salt, tahini and more lemon juice to taste