Tuesday, October 18, 2011

VeganMoFo 18: Moroccan Tagine with Ras-el-Hanout

Today's Spice (mix) is Ras el-Hanout
First of all, how fun is the name "Ras el-Hanout"?? Very fun.
This would be a good name for your next dog.

This picture is sort of dark, but maybe you can make out the beautiful dried rose petals in there?

I got this spice mix from a PPK swap, maybe it was GPope who sent it to me? I actually have another package of Ras el-Hanout from Whole Foods in my cupboards, but after reading the ingredients list on each package, I could see that this one was The Real Deal. It was full of spices we don't use often in the west - like galangal and rose petals - so I was intrigued. Ras el-Hanout is a spice blend from Morocco and is used in many traditional dishes.

After copious time surfing the net for R e-H recipes, I decided to make a Moroccan tagine dish with my special Ras el-Hanout. I looked at many recipes and found some different ideas... and ended up with this.

It was hearty and delicious. I loved the big chunks of veggies, especially since they are cooked until quite soft - they can be large without being difficult to eat. The spicing was just wonderful... warm, but not spicy hot. Also, sometimes with spice mixes, you just end up with an all-purpose "spices" flavor, but this mix really had a distinctive (and yummy) flavor that I loved. I could make this again and again. Plus, the whole thing was ready in under and hour, which is always nice!

Here's a loose recipe for you:

Vegan Moroccan Tagine with Ras el-Hanout

A little oil (I used about 1 1/2 tsp)
1 1/2 cups of dry Soy Curls, reconstituted in warm veg broth for 10 min, then drained
3 medium carrots in big chunks
1 large yellow onion in big chunks
1 potato in big chunks
1 Tbsp fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 can chickpeas, drained
handful of raisins (I left this out, because Mr. VE&T doesn't like raisins, but raisins are very common in tagines!)
juice of one orange
2 cups veg broth
salt & pepper to choice
1 Tbsp ras el-hanout
1 cup couscous + 1 1/2 c water

Cut up your veggies and such. In a large pot over medium-high heat, add a little bit of oil. Add in the soy curls and saute until lightly browned (+/- 10 minutes). Remove them and set them aside. Now, add the carrots, onion, potatoes, garlic and ginger with a little more oil back into that same big pot and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the onions have softened a bit. Next add in the Soy Curls again, along with the chickpeas, optional raisins, orange juice, veg broth, S&P, and ras el-hanout. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Simmer for about 30 minutes (or longer if you have the time).

While your tagine is simmering, bring 1 1/2 cups of water to boil in a smallish pot. Once boiling, pour in the couscous, stir well, turn off the heat, and cover. When your tagine is ready, take a fork and fluff up your couscous. Then serve with a mound of couscous on the bottom and a generous dollop of the tagine stew on top.

11 comments:

  1. 1. Sorry, but our next dog is going to be named Blueberry Seven. We already got that worked out, even though I've told dazee we're never getting another dog, but y'know.

    2. Rose petals?? Holy crow, but do I love rose petal anything. What's the taste of this stuff!!!

    xo
    kittee

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  2. Ras-el-hanout: it's just a delicious sounding name. It could be made out of ground up peanut shells and lye and I'd still want to eat it with a name like that.

    So I'm glad to hear that it's actually delicious! And not made of lye.

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  3. Oooh! I'm trying to figure out if I sent you that. It looked familiar...does it have french on the package?

    Adorable illustration, as usual! <3

    The tagine sounds delicious. Funny, I rarely make tagines, because I think the dried fruit really makes the dish and Jay hates dried fruit in cooked dishes.

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  4. i see those rose petals, Amey - how fancy!

    "Ras el-Hanout" is fun to say.

    i love tangine so much, although admittedly i haven't had one in forever. yours looks super delicious - i'd never think to add in soy curls. brilliant!

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  5. Does this have any cayenne pepper in it? I can tolerate some spicy foods, but cayenne is a big no-no for me. I love Moroccan food so I'd love to try this recipe!

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  6. I've been trying to decide how to prepare the soy curls I brought back from Portland, and this is making the decision process harder. Or maybe easier if I can get my hands on some real-deal ras-el-hanout.

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  7. This is another spice I've never used but I'm interested in trying to make a tagine so I'll try it out!

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  8. I sent it!! xxxx

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  9. awesome!!! Thank you Liz! I love it! xo

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  10. I think that spice and spice blends are the new cupcakes/cake pops. Are we looking at the next food trend?

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  11. So. Much. Delicious. Food.

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