This is a straightforward recipe from RecipeTinEats that we doctored up a bit: https://www.recipetineats.com/vegetable-tagine/ It’s also a great use of vegetables in your pantry. This recipe is vegetarian as written (although we used chicken broth).
We made the following modifications: first, for the spice mix, we sometimes find ground cardamom overpowering, so we reduced it to 2 tsp (from the recipe’s 1 Tbsp, or 3 tsp). We also used ground Kashmiri chilli pepper (a low heat pepper) instead of cayenne.
Second, we used 1 lb frozen pre-cut butternut squash instead of 1.5 lb fresh. (See Note 1.) We also added an additional 1/2 red bell pepper (for a total of 1.5 bell peppers). Instead of water, we used lightly seasoned chicken broth (we found about 2 3/4 cups sufficient to just cover the vegetables, less than the 3 1/2 cups called for in the recipe).
Third, instead of 2 cups fresh green beans, we used 1 cup frozen green peas. We used a 13.5 oz can of no-salt chick peas, which we rinsed and drained.
Finally, after cooking ended, we found the flavors a bit muddled. Ultimately, we used juice from 1.5 lemon (although we kept the zest to 1 lemon). For brightness and umami, we supplemented the stew with 1 tsp pomegranate quince white balsamic vinegar, 7 roughly chopped green olives stuffed with pimento (a mounded 1/4 cup), 2 Tbsp dried sour cherries, and 1 tsp white sugar. This stew ended up being quite tasty. (Mar. 2023)
Note 1: The frozen butternut squash released water into the pot, so we had to sop up the liquid (water-laden olive oil) to avoid steaming the food instead of browning it. Once we removed enough water from the pot, we added another Tbsp of olive oil.
Note 2: We served this with whole wheat couscous, using this recipe: https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/couscous.html
Cooking Adventures 