We’ve been harvesting a lot of green beans and zucchini lately. Some of the green beans are made into dilly beans which are wonderful on an appetizer tray but most of them are being blanched for use later in the winter. I have a few zucchini recipes I really enjoy but it is hard to keep up with zucchini once it decides to produce like rabbits in a room with no exit. Obviously the cayenne pepper sprinkled on a few zucchini a couple weeks ago did the trick. We’re no longer sharing our bounty with squirrels or whatever little pest was munching on them.
It’s so simple to substitute other vegetables in recipes for green beans or zucchini, however. The nutritional content may not be the same but it’s hard to beat vegetables you’ve grown yourself for freshness and a local food source. I’m reading another amazing book entitled The Zero Waste Home by Beá Johnson and she would be proud of my efforts.
Beá , her husband and two sons produce one quart of garbage per year! Can you even imagine that? I don’t know if we’ll get there but even if we adopt just a few of her ideas, we’ll have made a significant impact in our contribution to the garbage pile. The first one I’ve had down for years is using a stainless steel water bottle that I refill with tap water. Why did Americans so readily embrace the whole bottled water trend, I wonder? Ah, but it’s recyclable, you say. Ever heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? “While there’s still much we don’t understand about the garbage patch, we do know that most of it’s made of plastic. And that’s where the problems begin.” I would love to see people continue to consume water but choose reusable containers to enjoy it in instead of convenient, single use plastics. A thought to ponder.
This Moroccan Stew is so fantastic. The photos aren’t particularly interesting. I swear, the smell, the taste, ah, it’s just an amazing recipe. When I was eating chicken, I used to add 24 ounces of chicken to this when the bulk of the vegetables were poured in so that certainly could be considered for meat eaters.
Wine pairing: I would go with a medium bodied Pinot Noir for this dish. There’s a balance of acidity and sweetness in the Moroccan Stew that marries well with a lighter Pinot that’s more focused on spice than it is on tannins.
Make Ahead Moroccan Stew
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground turmeric
1/8 tsp curry powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp butter
1 sweet onion, chopped
2 C finely shredded kale *I substituted garden fresh green beans
4 (14 ounce) cans organic vegetable broth *I use 7 cups vegetable broth
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 Tbsp honey
4 large carrots, chopped
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
3 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
½ C chopped dried apricots
1 C dried lentils, rinsed
1 tsp ground black pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp cornstarch (optional)
1 Tbsp water (optional)
Combine cinnamon, cumin, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, turmeric, curry powder, and salt in a large bowl, reserve. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Cook the onion in the butter until soft and just beginning to brown, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the shredded kale and reserved spice mixture. Cook for 2 minutes or until kale begins to wilt and spices are fragrant. Pour the vegetable broth into the pot. Stir in the tomatoes, honey, carrots, sweet potatoes, potatoes, garbanzo beans, dried apricots, and lentils. Bring to boil; reduce heat to low. Simmer stew for 30 minutes or until the vegetables and lentils are cooked and tender. Season with black pepper to taste. If desired, combine optional cornstarch and water; stir into stew. Simmer until stew has thickened, about 5 minutes. Makes 6 servings.
Note: I recently substituted garden fresh beans for the kale and put them in with the tomatoes, honey, carrots, sweet potatoes, etc.
Recipe taken from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/make-ahead-vegetarian-moroccan-stew/
Savor, Sip and Sojourn 