VeganMoFo Day 24 - Jeff Novick's Moroccan Tagine

Yes, another Jeff Novick recipe. 

This one appeared on his Facebook page back in January with no fanfare or even a mention on the McDougall forums. I know he's working on 2 new DVDs, so maybe today's is from it? The third video is going to be about shopping, the fourth is more complex meals called Beyond the Basics, with a dozen more recipes, some with no tomatoes, which will be welcomed by those who said they don't go near SNAP meals because they can't eat or are sick of all those tomatoes.

Unfortunately for them, today's recipe does still contain tomatoes. In fact, it has double the tomatoes of Jeff's usual SNAP meals.

The recipe:


Moroccan Chickpea, Cauliflower and Carrot Tagine 

2 Boxes POMI chopped tomatoes
1 14-oz Can Unsalted Chickpeas
1 lb Frozen Cauliflower
1 lb Frozen Slices Carrots
1/2 lb frozen Onions
2 cooked sweet potatoes diced
1/2 cup blanched toasted almonds
1/2 cup sliced dried apricots

1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp red chili flakes

Place all ingredients in a large saucepan, Bring to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes and serve over Quinoa
~ * ~ * ~ *

In the pot, waiting for spices

My interpretations:
Instead of 2 boxes of Pomi, I used one box and 2 cans of no-salt added diced tomatoes. Why? Because they were on sale last week and I bought plenty of extra. No other reason. 

Two cans instead of one of the garbanzos, because we love garbanzo beans.

I used a bit more onions, both frozen and some fresh onions I had already diced that were sitting in the fridge.

Only one sweet potato, because I forgot I needed some for this meal and used up all but one on those fries the other day. Oops!

I cut each dried apricot in quarters, because I don't like large pieces of dried fruit in my food. I do the same when a recipe calls for sun-dried tomatoes.

And I tossed in about a quarter cup of frozen collards, because Jeff tosses greens in just about everything he makes, even though he doesn't always write it down in the recipes.

And instead of quinoa I'm serving it over reheated rice, because I had a lot left over from another meal.

Here's how it all looked as it was cooking:

Another afternoon of a delicious-smelling apartment! It's a great mixture of sweet and spicy. This tasted great! The cinnamon really made the other flavors popped. I know, an over-used term lately, but there's no other way to describe it. The apricots added a hint of sweetness but weren't over powering. The almond slivers softened just a wee bit for a little crunch amidst the texture of softer vegetables. This recipe, like almost all of Jeff's others, is a keeper for sure!