Adapted from Olive Trees and Honey: A Treasury of Vegetarian Recipes from Jewish Communities Around the World by Gil Marks
Gil Marks calls this “Moroccan Vegetable Stew for Couscous.” I used white beans and brown rice, and I left out the cabbage. I also changed the amounts and cooked it all in a crockpot. Still delicious!
Ingredients:
6 cups vegetable stock (I used water – I’m not one to make stock for a stew)
12-16 baby carrots (or 6 big carrots, cut up)
1 large onion, sauteed (the original recipe says 3 onions and doesn’t say sautee)
1 tsp. sea salt
1 stick of cinnamon (original recipe said 3)
1 Tbsp. turmeric (the original recipe said only 1/2 teaspoon)
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut up into pieces (or use butternut squash)
1/2 cup fresh parsley or cilantro
2 turnips, peeled and quartered (they look like potatoes in the finished dish)
3 zucchini, cut into chunks
2 cups cooked beans (original recipe said chickpeas – I used white Northern beans)
If you use dried beans, soak the beans overnight the night before you prepare the recipe. If you use a can of beans, add the can towards the end of the recipe. Cook the beans in your crockpot for a few hours until soft. Add carrots, sauteed onions, sweet potatoes and turnips and cook for another hour in the crockpot. Add spices, the zucchini and cooked beans (if you used canned beans – if you started with dried beans, they should already be in their cooking). Cook until zucchini is tender, about twenty minutes. Sprinkle the parsley on top at the end.
The original recipe says serve on couscous, but I served it on brown rice. Drizzle the liquid on top like it’s gravy.
Gil Marks suggests this stew as a dish to serve on Rosh Hashana (yes, the Jewish New Year is the next holiday on the Jewish calendar, unless you count Tu B’Av). I think of it as a summer stew, because you can get delightful fresh garden vegetables to include in the stew at this time of year.
This family of birds was living in the rafters at the Longstreet Farm in Holmdel, New Jersey.
My daughter had the opportunity to milk a cow at the farm. On the left is that cow’s calf, whose birth helped the cow be a plentiful nurser.
In local sad news, the mama of the guinea pigs we adopted for the summer has died. We buried her in our backyard. In the words of my veterinarian friend, she was “geriatric” (over four years old). The guinea pigs’ original owner comforted me over the phone, saying, I was afraid this might happen. I think I was more upset than my daughter. My daughter noticed that I’ve been checking on the remaining two a lot, and she said I’m glad you don’t fret over me like that.
For more Nature Notes, visit:
In memory of Bobbie (click to read Michelle’s memorable post about her dear friend):
Tea Set from 1890's at Longstreet Farm in Holmdel, New Jersey
It’s been quite a while since I did a blog review, and I owe a few people links, so I will aim to do them when I can on a Sunday morning instead of a Friday. I have more photos from the Longstreet Farm, but it was such a hot and sunny day that many of the pictures I took came out too bright. I may need to ton them down in Photoshop. The above one is a model of what might have appeared in the Longstreet farmhouse in the 1890’s. The original farmhouse was built in 1775 and more parts were added on in later years.
Ilana-Davita posted an apricot cake recipe, and it inspired me to make a peach cake, though I used an apple cake recipe and modified it.
Mrs. S. recommends the book Don’t Go Near the Water: “This wonderful, lighthearted, and hilariously funny novel focuses on a US naval PR unit based on Tulura (a fictional Pacific island) during World War II.”
On the subject of funny books, Jew Wishes recommends The Frozen Rabbi. But she didn’t like the end. Too bad.
