A simple vegetable, one pot meal packed with warming spices. This ‘flexitarian’ vegetable tagine is easily adjusted for vegan, vegetarian or meat-eating diets. Beautifully fragrant comfort food, perfect for the whole family.
Ingredients
BASE
1 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 sweet potato, chopped
1 large zucchini, chopped
1/2 butternut pumpkin, chopped into 2 cm pieces
6 baby potatoes, skin on and quartered
1 red capsicum, diced
2 handfuls baby spinach, washed
1 tbsp Harissa
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp coriander
Large pinch saffron
3 vegetable stock cube
1 can chopped or crushed tomatoes
1 can chickpeas
6 dates or apricot, roughly chopped
1 lemon, for juice
Fresh coriander and Mint, to garnish
VEGAN
1 extra can chickpeas
1/4 cup nuts (eg. almond, cashew, pistachio)
VEGETARIAN
1 extra can chickpeas
100g Fetta cheese, crumbled
MEAT LOVERS
300g Chicken thigh fillets, skin removed and diced
Directions
In a large heavy pot or Dutch Oven, heat olive oil over medium heat
Add onions (and chicken, if using) and increase heat to medium-high. Saute for 5 minutes, stirring regularly
Add garlic and all the chopped veggies. Season with salt and spices. Toss to combine
Cook for 5 minutes on medium-high heat, stirring regularly with a wooden spoon to ensure the spices and garlic don’t start to stick or burn
Add tomatoes, stock cubes and enough water to come half way upthe vegetables. Season with another small pinch of salt and a good pinch of pepper
Simmer on medium for 10 minutes
Add apricots or dates and stir in
Reduce heat to low, cover with a tight fitting lid
Simmer for another 20 minutes or until veggies are tender
Add chickpeas and simmer for another 5 minutes on low heat
Stir in juice of 1 lemon and taste foreasoning. Adjust if needed
Garnish with coriander, mint (and nuts or Fetta cheese, if using)
Serve with your favourite flat bread and couscous
Packed with veggies and spices, it is the chickpeas in this recipe that pack the biggest punch. They are an amazing food for newborn mothers containing 20% of the daily intake requirement of protein, fibre, folate, iron and phosphorous. They also have other nutrients such as Thiamin, vitamin B6, magnesium, and zinc. As a natural galactagogue, (a substance that promotes lactation), that also aid in increasing milk production…and as an added bonus they also keep you full longer!
