Green Olive and Chickpea Tagine

A wise man (or was it the Beach Boys?) once said, “Christmas comes this time each year.” The holiday season is upon us, the air is cold and Fifth Avenue is chockablock with holiday shoppers filling their noses with the usual Fifth Avenue scent of burning hotdogs.

Also making guest appearances in December: my fuzzy slippers, the winter triangle, Macy’s advertisements, fat squirrels, and pink cheeks. And there’s something about December’s wintery weekends that makes me want to swandive back under my covers and not come out until someone puts a hot bowl of something under my nose.

Well, I got a little hungry and couldn’t wait for someone else to make a bowl of something so I decided on this tagine that’s rich, flavorful, filling and healthy to boot. So much in fact that I’m contributing it to Sweetnick’s Antioxidant Rich Foods (ARFs) Tuesdays, which I’ve long been aware of but painfully lax in submitting too, even though most vanesscipes are brimming with antioxidant goodness.

This recipe is based on a traditional lamb and green olive tagine, but without the lamb of course. You can serve it to your own little lamb, whole flock, gaggle of Beach Boys or whoever.

Serves: 6
Time: 1 hour

 

Green Olive and Chickpea Tagine

1 bag dried chickpeas (or 2 cans)
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
olive oil
1 medium eggplant, cut into 1 inch dice
1 zucchini, cut into 1 inch dice
2 red bell peppers, diced
1 very large (35 oz) can of tomatoes
2 cups green olives, chopped in half if they’re large.
¾ tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp ground ginger
¾ tsp paprika
¼ tsp cinnamon
1 ½ tsp salt 

Cook your dried chickpeas. I did an overnight soak and 40 minutes in the pressure cooker. You could, of course, used canned chickpeas but dried are cheaper and you have enough left over to make a huge bowl of hummus.

Add some olive oil to a dutch oven and sauté the onion for a minute. Add the garlic and cook for a few more minutes. Stir in the eggplant, zucchini, red peppers and saute for a few minutes until the vegetables start to wilt.

Add the tomatoes, chopping them into the pot as you go, the green olives and some extra olive juice, 3 cups of cooked chickpeas (or 2 cans, drained and rinsed). Add the spices: coriander, cumin, ground ginger, paprika, and salt. Cover and cook for about 30 minutes. Remove the cover and cook down until thick and stewy.

Serve over any grain, though couscous is traditional I served it with quinoa. Pass along the hot sauce or harissa paste if you can find it.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 19th, 2006 at 2:13 pm and is filed under Stovetop & Skillet, Harvest, Any Season, Autumn, Winter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.