Moroccan Cous Cous Salad (v)

We had a BBQ last weekend. After a week of glorious, warm and sunny weather we picked the one day it was freezing cold and the guests had to borrow socks and jumpers and blankets! The food made us happy tho :) This salad is so simple to make but tastes great and goes with anything!

For 6-8 portions you need
1 cup cous cous
2 cups boiling veg stock
1/4 cup dried currants
1 finely chopped red onion
1 finely chopped small bunch fresh coriander
1/2 finely chopped small bunch mint
2 tsp moroccan spices e.g. ras el hanot
3 tsp pine nuts and sunflower seeds toasted in a frying pan
2 tbsp olive oil

Place everything about from the pine nuts and sunflower seeds in a large bowl and cover with clingfilm until the cous cous is rehydrated. Fluff up with a fork and then sprinkle over the seeds and pine nuts.

Roasted Moroccan Vegetable Soup with Toasted Pine Nuts (v)

I had a glut of veggies that needed to be used so roasted a whole big batch of them and turned half into this soup and the other half into a yummy lunch of roasted veggies, cous cous and spinach. The soup is beyond easy to make but tastes like you've slaved over it for hours!

For 4 portions you need
1 sweet potato
2 beetroot
2 onions
2 parsnips
4 carrots
2 courgettes
1.5 litres of veg stock
Handful roughly chopped coriander
2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp each of baharat, ras el halour and berber spice mixes (or whatever moroccan spices you fancy)
salt and pepper
1 tin drained cannelini beans
150g spinach, washed

Begin by chopping sweet potato, carrot, onion and parsnips into small chunks. Toss in the oil and spices and roast in a hot oven for 20-30 mins until tender and starting to catch a little.

Prepare the beetroot and courgette in the same way and roast on a separate tin.

Once the tray with the root veg has done, place the roasted veggies in a pan and cover with the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2-3 mins.

Add the spinach to the pan and blitz to a puree. Return to the pan and add the beans. Heat through.

Serve in warmed bowls topped with a couple of spoonfuls of the roasted beetroot and courgette, pine nuts and coriander. Serve with copious bread.

Lamb, Date and Almond Lentil Tagine

I adore Moroccan food. Absolutely, totally love it. Thankfully Fuz does too ;-) This was an easy and quick meal to use up some of the left over lamb from our Sunday roast. It would work well with leftover beef too.

For 2 portions you need
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, sliced
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
1/2 tsp each turmeric, ground cumin, chilli flakes and ground coriander
1 tsp each of ground cinnamon and ground ginger
salt and pepper
1 can chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp dates, roughly chopped
1 cup diced cooked lamb or beef
300ml lamb stock
1/2 cup red lentils
2 tbsp whole skinned almonds, toasted

Begin by frying the onion in the oil in the base of a tagine or other heavy based pan. Add the garlic, ginger and spices and cook for another 5 mins or so. Add everything else apart from the almonds and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, covered, for 30-45 mins.

Add the toasted almonds 15 mins before you want to serve, and remove the lid to thicken the sauce. Delicious with the orange, onion and almond salad.

Orange, Onion and Toasted Almond Salad (v)

A lovely light fragrant salad which cuts through the richness of a tagine brilliantly or is fabulous on its own on a hot day. So not like the weather today then...!

For 2 people you need
1 orange, segmented
1/2 red onion, finely sliced
1 tsp dried mint
2 tbsp toasted flaked almonds
1 tbsp argan oil (or use olive oil)

Arrange the ingredients on a plate and leave to infuse for 30 mins or so before serving. Serve at room temperature, don't chill.

Sweet CousCous with Rose Jam and Cashew & Pistachio Caramel (v)

I made my first tagine in a proper tagine over the weekend and wanted something deliciously light and sweet to eat afterwards. This hit the spot perfectly and combined delicate middle eastern flavours with a light but tasty finish to the end of the meal. Serve with a light orange and cinnamon sorbet to really intensify the flavours if you want!

For 4 portions you need
CousCous
1/2 cup couscous
1 cup boiling water
1 tsp each of rose water and orange flower water
1/2 tsp each of ground cinnamon, cardamon powder and freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 tsp caster sugar
2 tbsp sultanas
1 tbsp rose petal jam (optional)
A few rose petals to decorate

Place everything apart from the jam and rose petals into a bowl and stir well. Leave to steep for 5-10 mins until the water has been absorbed. Pack into a lightly greased bowl and push down well before inverting on a serving plate. Top with the jam and some rose petals.

Cashew and Pistachio Caramel
1 tbsp raw cashew nuts
1 tbsp raw pistachios
1 tsp agarve nectar (or honey if you're not vegan)
2 tbsp vegan marge (or butter if you're not vegan)

Place the nuts and butter/marge in a pan over a slow heat and gently toast the nuts. Add the nectar/honey and boil for 1-2 mins until the caramel is a light brown colour and the nuts are deliciously toasted. Take care not to burn or catch the pan! Tip onto a well oiled surface and leave to cool. Break into bite sized pieces once cooled and scatter over the cous cous.

Butter Cookies with Rose Water

I adore these. They are so meltingly delicious from the (copious) butter but have a lovely light and clean delicate flavour from the rose water. They are ridiculously easy to make and even easier to eat heh heh heh. The original recipe is adapted from one by Ghillie Basan in Modern Moroccan (p140).

For about 20 cookies you need
200g butter
130g icing sugar
10ml rose water
250g plain flour

Melt the butter then add everything else to it and mix to a smooth paste. Chill in the fridge for 30mins or so. Pull of pieces of dough about the size of a walnut and roll in to a ball. Squidge down on a baking tray and bake in a moderate (170 degree) oven for about 20 mins until lightly golden brown. Leave to cool on the tray for a few mins before transferring to a cooling rack and cooling thoroughly.

Moroccan Bulghar Wheat Salad (v)

The weather has been *glorious* for the last 10 days or so :) Quite strangely warm for mid March. In order to acknowledge this fact I made myself a bowl of yummy vegan goodness for lunch yesterday. I often make soaked bulghar wheat because it's quick, easy and filling. You can add whatever you have to hand, don't be put off by the long list of apparently random and weird ingredients. Make in bulk and enjoy over the week as the flavours develop and the fruit plumps up more and more.

For 6-8 portions you need:
1 cup bulghar wheat
2 cups stock
1 red onion, diced finely
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander
1 pack chilli marinated olives
1/4 cup each of sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and pine nuts
2 tbsp ras-el-halout
4 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup dried apricots, roughly chopped
1/4 cup raisins

Toast the seeds with the ras-el-halout until lightly toasted and spitting hot. Soak everything else in a large bowl and add the sizzling seeds to the mix. Combine well and leave to marinate. Serve with tomato sauce and salad leaves.

Slow Cooker Pumpkin Soup with Harissa (v)

This was my first ever attempt with a slow cooker. Who knew that 1 pumpkin + 2 leeks + 1 litre of stock left to burble for 10 hours would = yummy dinner.

For 6-8 servings you need:
1 pumpkin/squash, cut into a 1cm dice
2 leeks, sliced
1 litre vegetable stock
1/2 pot belazu harissa

Place the vegetables and stock in a slow cooker and leave on low for 8-10 hours. Blend to a smooth soup and add the harissa. Turn up to high for 15 mins to heat through and serve. Yum

Sweet Potato, Squash and Olive Tagine (v)

This is a lovely warming dish, perfect for the cooler Autumnal air which has arrived.

For 4-6 people you need:
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly diced
1 squash, cut into wedges and deseeded (no need to peel)
3-4 red onions, halved
1 heaped teaspoon of ras-el-halout
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tin tomatoes
1 tin chickpeas, drained
handful olives
2 tsp harissa

Toss the sweet potatoes, onions and squash in some olive oil and the ras-el-halout. Season. Roast in a hot oven for 20 mins or so and then remove the potatoes and onions, leaving the squash in for a further 15 mins. Meanwhile heat the tomatoes with the chickpeas, olives and harrissa in a large pan. Once the potatoes etc are done add them to the stew base. Top up the liquid level with 1/2 can water. Fork the squash off of the skin and add to the tagine. Check the seasoning and then serve with cous cous.

Baked Figs with Moroccan Spices (v)

I had a holiday of a lifetime in Morocco a few years back. I adored the sights, smells and of course THE FOOD!!! This is a Moroccan themed dessert to finish our Middle Eastern inspired menu for tonight.

For 2 people you need:
4 ripe figs
1/2 tub ricotta or 1/2 tub vegan cream cheese/silken tofu
1 tsp fragrant honey (preferably Moroccan but I'll let you off if you can't find that) or agave nectar if you're vegan
1 tbsp pine nuts
1 tbsp flaked almonds
3 cardamon pods, seeds extracted and ground to a fine dust
1 tsp rose water
1 tsp orange flower water

Begin by cutting a cross in the top of the figs and gently squeezing the sides to make them open out. Place them in an oven proof dish. Mix together the other ingredients (aside from the pine nuts/almonds). Dollop a tbsp of the sweetened mixture per fig in the middle. Top with the pine nuts and almonds. Bake in a moderate oven for 15 mins or so until warmed and the fig juices are running. Serve.

Moroccan Spiced Vegetables with Bulghar Wheat and Haloumi (v)

This is another endless variation on the same theme, but tasty none the less. Today's dish was a bit dry if truth be told so I am open for suggestions as to a sauce to combine with it. I was thinking either yogurt and harissa or maybe some runny tahini sauce...

Serves 4 people

For the baharat beetroot and squash you need 2-3 beetroot, scrubbed and peeled and cut into 6ths and 1 squash, cut into chunks. Toss in a little olive oil, season with salt and sprinkle over 1-2 tbsp baharat. Roast in a medium oven for 20-30 mins.

For the ras-el-halout mixed vegetables you need handful mushrooms, 1 courgette, 2 carrots, 2 red onions, 1/2 cauliflower broken into florets. Begin by roughly chopping the onion, courgettes and carrots. Toss in some olive oil and 1-2 tbsp ras-el-halout with the mushrooms and cauliflower. Roast in a medium oven for 20-30 mins.

For the haloumi chop a packet into chunks and roast in a hot oven for about 10 mins.

For the bulghar wheat place 1/2 cup bulghar wheat in a bowl with 1/2 tsp stock powder and pour over 1 cup boiling water. Leave to mingle for 20-30 mins. If you are vegan, omit the haloumi and add a can drained chickpeas to the bulghar wheat.

Serve, scoff and enjoy :)

Moroccan Spiced Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash Chips (v)

Lex loves any vegetables that are orange, so we often have sweet potatoes and butternut squash (served for him with a side of orange pepper...). He also loves Moroccan spices so this recipe combines the two for a healthy side dish which makes me feel better about him scoffing down coco pops for breakfast and jelly for pudding...

For 4 portions you need
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 12 small wedges
1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into about 12 small wedges
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp moroccan seasoning/spices
salt and pepper

Toss the vegetables in the oil and spices. Roast in a hot oven for about 20 mins till tinged with black and soft in the middle. Eat as you wish.

Cous cous with almonds, pine nuts and cashews

This is another recipe which isn't really a recipe, it's more common sense. But I'll blog it anyway...

For 4-6 portions you need:
1 cup cous cous
2 cups boiling water
1/2 tsp stock powder
2 tbsp pine nutes
2 tbsp flaked almonds
1/4 cup cashews

Soak the cous cous in the stock till fluffy. Toast the nuts in a pan and then top the cous cous with them just before you serve. This is a nice plain side dish to counter the richness of other dishes.

Toasted Pitta with Zatar

This is a lovely crispy accompaniment to houmous and other dippy things. Be careful not to cook it too much however or it will burn. And watch your teeth too - it's very very crunchy!

Cut pittas in half and then split the halves. Sprinkle over zatar (a blend of herbs, spices and sesame seeds) and drizzle with olive oil. Bake in a hot oven for 5-10 mins depending on the thickness of the bread. Yum.

Arabic Salad

This is based on Nadia Sawalha's recipe in @bbcgoodfood magazine this month. But I have added corriander, left out the pepper (as this was used in the chilli, feta and parsley salad) and done different toasted pitta. It's a lovely light and refreshing salad and makes a good contrast to the zaalouk.

For 4-6 portions you need
1 red onion, finely sliced
juice 1 lemon
2 tomatoes, diced (leave out the core and harder middle if they're not as ripe as you'd like)
1/2 cucumber, sliced
1 small romaine lettuce, thickly shredded
1/2 bunch parsley and corriander, chopped
4 sprigs mint, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil

Place everything into a bowl and mix thoroughly.

Zaalouk (v)

This is my favourite ever aubergine dish. It's so delicious it's hard to describe. Yes it is a but of a faff to make but OMG it is soooooooooo worth it! And the recipe makes loads so you can over indulge to your hearts content. If you have argan oil it makes all the difference, but I am not sure where you can buy it from here (suggestions gratefully received as I am down to my last 1/4 of a bottle!). If you can't get argan then good quality olive will do fine :)

For 4-6 portions you need:
2 large aubergines
6 tomatoes
1 large onion
5 cloves garlic
1 bunch corriander, chopped
1 bunch parsley, chopped
salt and pepper
2 large tbsp good quality harissa
juice 1 lemon
4 tbsp argan oil
4 tbsp olive oil

Begin by pricking the aubergines and roasting them in a hot (200 degrees) oven. Slice the tomatoes in half and place in a baking dish, drizzled with the olive oil and some salt and pepper. Roast the toms and aubergine for 45 mins till soft. Meanwhile saute the onion in a pan with a little more olive oil.

Cut the cooked aubergines in half and scoop the flesh out of the skins. Chop roughly. Scoop the toms out of their skins and chop. Add both to the onions along with the oil the toms were roasted in.

Add the harissa and garlic and cook for about 5 mins. Add a little water if it looks too dry. Turn off the heat and add the corriander, parsley and lemon. Check the seasoning adding more lemon or salt if needed. Pour into a serving dish and pour over the argan oil. Serve with toasted pitta and olives. Close your eyes and imagine the sun on your face!

Chilli, Parsley and Feta Salad

This is a Ghillie Basan recipe. And it's amazingly good!

For 3-4 people as a side dish you need:
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
1 pepper, sliced thinly (I used orange as I don't like the green which was suggested)
1 chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 bunch flat parsley, chopped
1/2 pack feta, crumbled
2 large tomatoes, chopped
4 tbsp olive oil
juice 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper
Barbere seasoning to serve

Place everything onto a plate and top with the feta. Drizzle over the oil and top with the barbere seasoning. Leave to settle for about 30 mins before serving.

Moroccan Feast

I love Moroccan food, and ever since we visited there a couple of years ago I like trying to recreate the food we ate. Especially when it's cold here!

We had the following feast for lunch today. I'll blog all the recipes separately to make them easier to search for later.

Chilli, parsley and feta salad
Zaalouk (aubergine and tomato salad)
Arabic salad
Olives
Toasted pitta with zatar
Cous cous with almonds, pine nuts and cashews
Houmous

Followed by melon and of course mint tea!

Am pogged now! And have plenty of leftovers for lunch next week. Yum.

Roasted Squash Soup with Harissa and Canolleni Beans

@riverford delivered a *beautiful* sweet mama squash this week and I knew I had to make this! It's an unctuous, velvety, delicious soup with a pleasant warmth from the harissa.

For 4 portions you need:
1 squash, cut into chunks (no need to peel) and deseeded
1.25l vegetable stock
1 rounded dessertspoon harissa
2 tbsp finely chopped corriander
2 tbsp roasted pumpkin seeds
2 tsp roasted pumpkin seed oil
2 pinches moroccan seasoning
salt and pepper
2 tbsp good quality olive oil

Begin by roasting the squash: lay the unpeeled chunks on a baking sheet, season well, add the moroccan seasoning and the olive oil. Roast in a moderate oven for about an hour. Leave to cool for a bit and then scoop the flesh from the skin.

Place the cooked flesh in a pan and add the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 mins. Blend. Add the drained beans and harissa and gently heat. Serve in bowls garnished with the toasted seeds, corriander and oil.

Vegetable Tagine and Couscous

The plan was to blog one recipe a day during 2010, so why am I doing two today? Well mainly cos I'd forgotten I hadn't already blogged the carrot and jeresulam artichoke soup recipe previously and partly cos I created this tagine today and didn't want to forget the ingredients...

So, for 4-6 servings you need:
A mix of vegetables (I used 2 carrots; 1/2 bulb fennel, 1 large parsnip, 2 leeks, 1 onion, half a head celery).
1 tin chopped toms
3 tsp harrisa
1 tbsp moroccan spice mix (or cumin and corriander with some oregano if you can't find any)
1 tin drained chickpeas

Roughly chop the veggies. Saute the onion and leek in some olive oil for few mins till tender. Then add everything else and cover. Sautee for a further 5 mins or so. Then add everything else along with about 200ml water.

Simmer for 20 mins until very tender. Check consistency of sauce. If it's too thin add some tom puree. If it's too thick add some more water.

Serve with couscous and some chopped corriander/mint/parsley. You can add some dried apricots to the stew too if you want but N doesn't like that much and I was planning to serve this with the winter fruit compote for pud so didn't want to overdo the dried fruit!