Vege Tagine

Can you see that cinnamon stick? And the cummin seeds? And the gorgeous juicy dates in amongst all that delicious goodness? Oh yeah, this is a lovely dish.

My sister, Sal and her boyfriend, Liam came over for dinner recently. It was hard to know what to prepare as Sal is vegetarian, and a fussy vegetarian at that and Liam is a big time meat eater. Like any real Aussie male. I've really enjoyed cooking lately and am trying lots of different ingredients and techniques. We never had stews when I was a kid so its a new thing for me. I made a beef stew for the boys and this yummy vegetable tagine (from taste.com.au) for Sal and I all served with mashed potatoes.

It's quite a sweet subtle flavour so its very different from dishes that usually come out of my kitchen but I enjoyed it.

2 tsp olive oil
1 brown onion, halved, cut into wedges
2 carrots, peeled, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp ground paprika
1 cinnamon stick
Large pinch of saffron threads
375ml (1 1/2 cups) vegetable stock
650g butternut pumpkin, deseeded, peeled, coarsely chopped
250g green beans, topped, cut into 6cm lengths
100g dried apricots
100g fresh dates, halved, pitted
1 x 400g can chickpeas, rinsed, drained
2 tsp finely grated lemon rind

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the carrot, garlic, ginger, cumin seeds, paprika, cinnamon and saffron and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds or until aromatic.

Add stock and bring to the boil. Add the pumpkin, beans and apricots. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender. Add dates, chickpeas and lemon rind and stir to combine.

Sathya-rating ***