Marrakesh Curried Stew

I wanted to save time at our family cottage...

This meal was motivated by the concept – FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). I wanted to save time at our family cottage where I did not want to be missing out some fun by being in the kitchen. With a crew of 12 hungry souls at our cottage in Northern Ontario last summer, I was ready. Prepping this meal ahead, was a whole lot easier than cooking it at the cottage with no electricity and only river water for the cleanup. And…I hoped it would give me that white space I needed in the schedule to go for a pre-dinner, sunset waterski on the Mattawa River, which is one of my absolute favourite experiences! The water becomes a sheet of glass and there is no skiing that can compare to that…

Serves 12
A quick and delicious alternative.

Prep Time

45 Min

Total Time

1 hr 15 Min

Ingredients

2 onions, cut in chunks
2 carrots, cut in chunks
2 C vegetable stock*
2 C coconut milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 T curry powder
4 T ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 white potatoes, cut in chunks
1 sweet potato, cut in chunks
1 small eggplant, cut in chunks
6 cloves garlic, crushed
2 green peppers, cut in chunks
1 red pepper, cut in chunks
1 zucchini, cut in chunks
2 C cooked or canned chick peas
3 T raisins (optional** or add more to taste)
Medjool dates (optional**)
2 T toasted coconut
Sea salt to taste

Vegetable Stock

I brought 3 cups of water to 118F (can still put your hand in) with 1 carrot, sliced, 1 celery (sliced), 2 full green onions, 3 stalks of kale. After 20 minutes, I blended this in my Vitamix and added it as per above. I do not recommend powdered MSG-laden stock.

**According to my travel agent cousin who has been to Marrakesh, she said if it was authentic, you would serve it with Medjool dates. If anyone has a known Candida issue or propensity for yeast overgrowth, please refrain from the raisins and dates, increase the veggies and decrease the white and sweet potatoes. Otherwise, treat yourself to this cultural tradition.

Directions

Put the onions and carrots in a large pot with 1/2 c vegetable stock and cook over medium heat until onions soften a bit - about 3 minutes.
Add the coconut milk and the spices. Cook for 1 minute while stirring.
Add the white and sweet potatoes and the rest of the stock. Cover and let cook 5 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients (except the salt, rice and roti), stir, and cover and cook until vegetables are just soft, about 20 minutes.
To bring out all the flavours, season to taste with a pinch or two of sea salt.
Serve plain or over cooked brown basmati rice with lightly toasted Naan bread (if grains are in your diet). If they are not, just savour it as a creamy stew like I do and serve with a large side salad to get your greens in and help alkalize the meal.

Notes

This is an economy of effort recipe as it makes the most of any stew/curry/chili I have ever made for the least amount of time spent in the kitchen. Freezes well and a great one for bringing on trips to save cooking time on holidays.

Special Diets

If avoiding nightshades, replace white potatoes with Japanese sweet potatoes, bell peppers with celery and eggplant with zucchini.

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Adapted from the vegan cookbook Fresh

Warming

On a particularly cold day, this Marrakesh Curried Stew will warm you up quickly. It is easy to make and you can play around with the spices to create something spicier or not-so-spicy. It is a nutrient-rich comforting dish – hopefully a warming dish after a chilly late August waterski for me ( : Otherwise, this makes a lovely dish year round. The key is it makes so much for the effort involved. I love the efficiency factor as much as the taste!

Ingredients

See the ingredients in a snapshot picture (for the visual people like me). Ideally, I would have used either: additive-free coconut milk (unlike this one) or even better, fresh coconut milk. Also, I usually pre-soak and cook my own chickpeas or in a pinch, use BPA-free canned chickpeas. Instead, I used what my shopper had purchased (and was just thankful they had saved me that time shopping instead of getting wrapped up in imperfection).

Efficiency Tip

This wide funnel is the handiest tool to avoid making a mess when jarring/canning or filling a thermos as I do for my kids’ lunches (they don’t want to wait for a microwave at school which gets a high five from Mom). Finally, now you can picture how many meals this stew makes when you double the recipe!

Recipe Source

In Toronto, there is an amazing restaurant called Fresh (as opposed to Freshii – a yummy fast-food chain) which serves inventive and delicious vegetarian fare and this recipe comes from a cookbook of the same title (potentially now out of print, however, there are two new cookbooks that contain favorite recipes from the original book).

I am one lucky Aunt as my niece/goddaughter Dana surprised me by a visit to one of her nearby restaurants not even knowing it was my favourite restaurant! She lives around the corner from one of the Fresh restaurants in Toronto and this meal was divine. They are particularly known for their “bowls”.

Epilogue

Oh, I almost forgot. The hopeful waterski….the pre- cooking did paid off…

See the sunset? Sheet of glass? Can you see me smiling?? All because I had this meal made ahead of time to capture that sunset ski.

And this year's gang enjoying it again...

I’d love to hear from you!

When you make this, tell me what you think of it...has it become a soul food like it has become for me?

Nutritionally yours,
Laura
“Nothing tastes as delicious as healthy does”

Marrakesh Curried Stew

I wanted to save time at our family cottage...