Garbanzo and Yam Sweet Tagine

with Arugula and Carrots! :)

 (tagine)

I first fell in love with tagine cooking when I was in (of course) Morocco. I was engaging in my travel-diet policy at the time-- also known as "whatever you feed me, I will eat, no questions asked." Needless to say, I did not eat very much vegetarian food there. Upon returning home to my normal veggie habits, I began to crave the stewy spicy tenderness of tagine cooked meals, particularly during the change of seasons from summer to autumn.  While most of my tagine cooking adventures involve things like harissa (middle eastern style chili paste), tonight I decided to go the sweet route, and it turned out pleasantly fantastic. There is a hint of cayenne and crushed black pepper to give it a zing, but the spice is light enough to leave room for the sweetness of the carrots and yams to shine through.

I served this over buttery couscous (recipe also below)

(dinner!)

Garbanzo and Yam Sweet Tagine
Musical Accompaniment: Souad Massi, "Honeysuckle"
 3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pat of earth balance
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium sized yam, peeled and cubed
2-3 large carrots, peeled and cubed
2 cups vegetable broth
1 can of garbanzos
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon ginger (or fresh ginger! 1 inch piece of ginger, grated-- this depends on how much zing you want in your tagine!)
1 tablespoon agave nectar
a handful of arugula, coarsely chopped
a pinch of turmeric, coriander, black pepper, cayenne pepper (optional) and sea salt to taste.

Heat the oil in a tagine or heavy skillet over medium heat
Stir in ginger and cinnamon
Add earth balance and other spices (except salt and pepper, those come later) to taste
Once the spices become integrated and fragrant, add the yams and carrots, stirring to coat them in the liquid.
Allow yams and carrots to cook for 5 minutes, until yams become a golden brown color, and carrots begin to soften.
Pour in the agave nectar
Carefully pour in the vegetable stock and garbanzo beans.
Bring liquid to a boil, stirring carefully.
Reduce the heat, cover and cook gently for 25-45 minutes.
Once the vegetables are tender and the sauce is almost syrupy in consistency, lower the heat significantly. Add the chopped arugula, salt and pepper. Allow the arugula to steam slightly by recovering the tagine for 5 minutes.

Serve over buttery couscous

Buttery couscous recipe
I had always cooked couscous like pasta, until a Moroccan roommate corrected me. He was right! This way is so much better!

1 cup couscous
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons Earth Balance (in pieces)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 350F
Pour couscous in oven safe dish
Mix salt into warm water, then pour over the couscous
Allow couscous to absorb the water for 10 minutes.
Drizzle the olive oil over couscous, and stir to coat
Top with earth balance

Cook for 10 minutes, until couscous is just lightly toasted.