dinner:
moroccan vegetable stew
Published 3rd June 2019
With the weather starting to cool down again, I have pulled the slow cooker out for some wholesome, hearty meals that require very little preparation.
I have only had a slow cooker for a few years and I really don’t know what I did before it. I particularly find it very useful for the days that I am working, as I can get everything ready that morning or the night before and then turn it on before I go to work, then when we return home, not only does the house smell amazing, but dinner it ready – just like going to a restaurant, right!!??!
On the days that I work, I finish between 5-5:30pm, and by the time I pick the kids up from childcare and after school care, we don’t get home until around 6pm, and we like to have the kids in bed at 7pm, which leaves little time for meal prepping.
Once I got home, I added the cannellini beans to the Moroccan Vegetable Stew while the kettle was boiling for the cous cous. Once the kettle boiled, I cooked the cous cous, and while this was cooking, served up the stew (in which time the cous cous was pretty much done), topped with yoghurt, preserved lemon and coriander, so we were eating around 6:05pm. Win!
The kids enjoyed this, which was great as it had a variety of vegetables and beans/legumes for a protein source. If you wanted, you could definitely add some chicken or lamb to this at the start if you wanted it to be a meat containing meal.
If you didn’t want to serve this with the quinoa, you could leave it out and have it as a soupy stew, or with some fresh crusty bread to mop up the juice.
Enjoy xx.
Ingredients:
Serves 4-6
1 onion, sliced
1 tbs ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/3 head of cauliflower, cut into small florets
300g pumpkin, peeled and diced
400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of saffron
1 tsp harissa
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp honey
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
400g tin crushed tomatoes
400g tin cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups baby spinach leaves, chopped
Quinoa, to serve
Natural yoghurt, to serve
Preserved lemon, finely chopped or squeeze of lemon juice, to serve
Fresh coriander leaves, to serve
Method:
In a small bowl, combine the cumin, cinnamon, saffron, harrisa and turmeric and mix to combine.
Into the slow cooker, place the onion, ginger, garlic, cauliflower, pumpkin, chickpeas, spices, honey, stock and tomatoes. Mix gently to combine, place the lid on the slow cooker and set to low and cook for 8 hours.
When ready to serve, add the cannellini beans and spinach and mix to combine, allowing to cook for another 5 minutes.
Place the cous cous into a bowl, allowing ~1/3 cup of uncooked cous cous per person, and cover with equal amounts boiling water. Cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
Divide cous cous between bowls, top with the stew and serve with a dollop of natural yoghurt, lemon and coriander leaves.
