Vegetable Tajine

I remember being really happy with the chicken tajine I had previously made. I was inspired to make a vegetarian version by my visits to Moroccan restaurants (Au Tarot and Rumi) and to Morocco. It seems the vegetables always come in large chunks, cooked so they're soft. I like the combination of tartness and saltiness from the lemons and olives.



Vegetable Tajine - Serves 3-4
You can obviously use the vegetables of your choice but I tried to use those I had encountered in tajines. The addition of chickpeas add protein to the meal.

* olive oil
* 1 small onion, sliced thinly
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* ½ tsp cumin
* ½ tsp nutmeg
* ¼ tsp cardamom
* ½ tsp dried chili flakes
* ½ L of vegetable broth
* ½ L of water
* ½ lemon, sliced thinly
* ½ can of green olives, chopped
* vegetables of your choice, cut into chunks (carrots, potatoes, butternut squash, zucchini)
* a few cauliflower florets
* a small handle of green beans
* a small handle of chickpeas
* salt and pepper, to taste

In a large pot, on medium/high heat, cook onion slices in olive oil.
Add the garlic and spices and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Pour the vegetable broth and water.
Add the lemon slices, olives and vegetables that take longer to cook (carrots, potatoes, squash).
Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer.
Later, add the zucchini, cauliflower florets, green beans and chickpeas.
Cook for 1 hour, with the lid on.
Taste and adjust seasoning (salt and pepper).
Serve with couscous (I had it with minty couscous and raisins).
Tada!



Cooking a tajine.

While I really enjoyed the tajine on the day I made it, I liked it even better on subsequent days. Not only is it nice to come home and not have to cook, but it's healthy and the flavours are so vibrant. Delicious and no guilt at all!




Served with couscous with mint and raisins.

Couscous with Mint and Raisins

This recipe could not be simpler. Couscous. Boiling Water. Raisins. Mint. Maybe some salt. I'll still write a "recipe" below. I pre-soaked the raising in boiling for a few minutes and I found that it really helps plump the raisins up. I served this couscous with a vegetable tajine that will be the next post!



Couscous with Mint and Raisins

* 1 cup couscous

* handful of raisins
* 1 cup boiling water, plus more to plump raisins
* couscous
* mint, leaves picked and chopped
* salt, to taste

Soak the raisins in a small bowl of boiling water for 10 minutes.
Drain and set aside.
In a large bowl, add the couscous.

Slowly add the water and fluff with a fork.

Add more water as required, a bit at a time. Covering the couscous also helps allow the heat to remain and the couscous to absorb the broth.

Add the raisins and mint.
Mix in.
Season with salt.
Tada!


Minty couscous with Raisins.

The mint from my garden was a refreshing addition. I liked the sweetness of the raising contrasting with the savoury flavours. It was a perfect accompaniment for the tajine.

Rumi Restaurant (Outremont,QC)

5198 Rue Hutchison
Montréal, Outremont
514.490.1999
website

On Labour Day, my boyfriend A finally was free to go out. (A was working 3 weeks in Montréal and had been keeping quite busy.) He had a list of restaurant recommendations from a friend who also studied at McGill. One of them was near my sister's and her husband's condo (where A was staying) in nearby Outremont, just on the other side of Mount Royal.

Rumi is a quaint restaurant serving a mixture of North African and Middle Eastern food. I loved the décor, especially the Moroccon lanterns (I didn't get to buy any when I visited). The restaurant was first quiet but became very busy very quickly.



A and I each started with a small bowl of dal rumi ($3.50) made of red lentils, ginger and coconut milk. There are not many dal's I've met that I've disliked. I love the combination of lentils and seasoning and this soup was no exception. A great start to warm me up on a rainy day!


Dal Rumi.

At my suggestion, A and I shared 3 mezes (for $17) with naan bread ($2). We picked the hodja (roasted eggplant and peppers), hamdi (roasted peppers marinated in cider vinegar) and wali (sheep's milk feta). All three mezes were tasty. I love the roasted pepper salad - very Mediterranean. The eggplant dip was flavoured with tomatoes. The tangy and salty sheep's milk feta tasted great also. I loved going in between all three mezes, topping each on a piece of naan bread.


Three mezes (clockwise, from left):hodja (roasted eggplant and peppers), wali (sheep's milk feta) and hamdi (roasted peppers marinated in cider vinegar).

Finally, A and I shared the vegetarian platter majdub ($17). The vegetable medley included interesting vegetables like patty squash and celery root (that I had to translate from French and wasn't feeling 100% confident with those two terms, but I was right!). The tomato-ey sauce spiced with cinnamon was a perfect accompaniment to the rice topped with raisins.



Rumi is the perfect place for a date or a nice dinner. The food was very good, maybe slightly overpriced for the portions.

Restaurant au Tarot (Montréal)

500 rue Marie Anne Est
Montréal, Québec
514.849.6860
website

I was meeting my childhood friend MC for dinner during the holidays. She had mentioned a Moroccan restaurant in Montréal and I suggested we go, having traveled to Morocco with her. Restaurant au Tarot is located near the trendy Plateau Mont-Royal area. MC had the foresight to make a reservation, just in case. Lucky for us, because the restaurant was packed on a Wednesday evening.



MC had previously ordered the Couscous Royal and remembered it being much too big for two people. After looking over the menu and fretting over portion sizes, we decided to order the table d'hôte ($34.80) and pay the additional $8 to share it. This turned out to be a wise decision, because we were both very full by the end of our meal.


Our starter: lentil soup.

The table d'hôte started with a lentil soup that was very satisfying. My, I like lentil soups! Then I convinced MC to order the pigeon pastilla since she did not know exactly what it was (unfortunately, we did not have any in Morocco as we mostly had tagines). I could only tell her that it was meat in dough. The pastilla had an interesting combination of sweet and salty, with a generous sprinkling of sugar on top of the dough.


Pigeon pastilla.

The pastilla was served with large bowls of couscous and vegetable stew. The vegetables (zucchini, carrots and chickpeas) reminded of those we often found in layers in tagines in Morocco. I really enjoyed ladles of the vegetable mixture on top of the couscous with a side of pastilla.


Couscous and vegetables.


My filled plate.

Dinner ended with mint tea and dessert. Again, drinking meat tea reminded me of our time in Morocco. I also really liked the sweet treats filled with ground nuts, a perfect accompaniment to the tea.


By dessert, we were stuffed!

MC sure was right about the large portions at au Tarot. If I came again, I would want to come in a large group so I could sample more dishes. I just have to make sure I make a reservation since the restaurant was rather wee.

Tajine au Poulet et aux Olives (Chicken and Olive Tajine)

MC is my oldest friend. Not old old (she's actually younger than me!) but I've known her since grade 2. She came for a visit from Montréal for a few days. I don't see her as often as I should but we have gone on vacation together a couple of times, the last one being in Morroco in 2007. Inspired by our trip, I thought of making a Morrocan tajine. I saw a quick chicken tajine recipe on Ricardo (Ricardo Larrivée's French cooking show on Radio-Canada) a while ago and saved it for a special occasion. This was the perfect occasion and also perfect on a cold and rainy day.

MC and I had a great trip in Morroco. It was just as I imagined, and a bit more. As women, we got more attention than we wanted. Otherwise, the food was great, simple and delicious. Everything is so colourful over there. I loved going into a souk, even though it's quite intense. We spent a few days in the city of Marrakesh then spent most of our days in a 4x4 driving through the Atlas mountain range. We spent our final days at the beach in Agadir.

Pictures from MC's and my 2007 trip to Morroco.

Tajine au Poulet et aux Olives (Chicken and Olive Tajine) - Serves 3-4
Adapted from Isabelle Brossard (Ricardo).

I really liked this recipe because it was very simple to make. The longest step is the cooking time to make sure you get maximum flavour. I sliced the lemon and browned them beause I thought that's what I saw on TV. However, the recipe does not call for it and I'm not sure if it's necessary. If you can find preserved lemon, I'm sure that's even better! I added potatoes per the recipe, but for a non-carb option, adding zucchini near the end would be a great addition (there always seemed to be zucchini in the dishes in Morroco!)

* olive oil
* butter

* 4 chicken thighs, skinless

* salt, to taste

* freshly ground pepper, to taste

* 1 small onion, diced small

* 1 garlic clove, minced

* ½ lemon, quartered

* ½ can of green olives, chopped

* 2 potatoes, sliced into thick matchsticks or cubed

* ½ L of chicken broth

* ½ L of water

* ½ tsp cumin

* ½ tsp nutmeg

* ¼ tsp cardamom

* ½ tsp dried chili flakes

* ½ bunch of fresh coriander, sliced thinly

* ½ bunch of fresh parsley, sliced thinly

In a large pot, on medium/high heat, brown your chicken thighs in some olive oil and butter.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper.

Remove the chicken thighs and set aside.

In the remaining fat, add the onion, garlic and spices and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add the chicken broth and the chicken thighs back.

Also add the olives, potatoes, lemon and water into the pot.

Bring to a boil.

Lower the heat and cook for 1.5 hours, with the lid on.

Taste and adjust seasoning (salt and pepper).

Garnish with coriander and parsley

Serve with couscous.

Tada!

Browned lemon slices and spice mixture.

Browned chicken thighs and the finished product.

I served it with some couscous and grilled asparagus.