Friday, February 26, 2010

Moroccan Bean Stew

This is another new recipe I've just finished, and it's become one of my very favorite soups - period. 

There's something about the warmth and complexity of the spices and seasonings in Moroccan cuisine that keeps me coming back for more... and inspires me to create new dishes using them. 

This Moroccan Bean Stew offers a heaping serving of black beans, chickpeas, and lentils, along with sweet potatoes (here I've used yellow-fleshed), and in a fragrant, intoxicating broth infused with cinnamon, cumin, coriander, ginger, fennel, garlic and more.  Topped off with roasted sliced (dried) figs.  We ate this soup last night and it was most satisfying.

Speaking of yellow-fleshed sweet potatoes, do you use them much?  Personally, I love them, and favor them in my cooking many times over the orange variety.  But, are they widely available in most areas?  Curious, since I find myself using them more and more in my new recipes.
...people who are concerned about their hearts get little benefit from switching from regular meats to lean meats, or to chicken and fish... The power foods are foods from plants.  Vegetarinas have a much better menu for the heart.  Lacto-ovo-vegetarians do much better than those on lean-meat diets, while pure vegetarians who steer clear of all animal products do best of all.  (Food for Life, Dr. Neal Barnard)

13 comments:

Daniel said...

This looks absolutely delicious!

When will this recipe be available in a book?

Domestic Dharma said...

this sounds wonderful! I'd take a huge bowl right now =) We consistently have the orange and yellow flesh sweets in our Whole Foods here in Michigan. I've always used the orange, don't think I 've ever even had the yellow...

nora said...

I never see yellow sweet potatoes in az!
the soup looks and sounds perfect. so many legumes in one soup!

Anonymous said...

mmm, chunky soup!

Dreena said...

Thanks Daniel. I'm working on the next book... as much as I can right now! I'm hoping to have more news in the spring about when I might get this book in print.

Tyrah, you must give the yellow ones a try - awesome baked, put in stews, casseroles, etc. We love 'em!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this :)

What a fantastic blog !

Everyday Superhero said...

Oh, that looks lovely and yummy. Dried figs? Brilliant! The broth sounds so good.

I don't think I've EVER seen yellow sweet potatoes and I love sweet potatoes.

If you need a tester, I'm available. I promise to have all the ingredients on hand this time. :-)

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Heather - Healthy Eating Starts Here said...

oh my god... FIGS as a soup garnish???!!?!!? why in the world have I never THOUGHT of that?!?!? Especially on a soup with lentils and sweet potatoes, that flavour combo would be fantastic.

In response to your sweet potato question, I live over in Victoria and they have yellow & orange all the time. I usually use the orange because I love their flavour. I get annoyed that they're always called yams. I used to live in ontario, and I don't remember ever seeing the yellows there...

Cassie - Vegan Fox said...

Can't wait to try this! Your Cocoa Coconut Chili is one of our favorite one pot dishes :)

quorlia said...

Only get them very infrequently in the UK and it's never clear what you are going to get.

Kathy4July said...

Dear Dreena,
I've made this soup twice now and love the fragrant broth and spices. instead of using only sweet potatoes, I put in a mixture of rutabagas, parsnip and carrot. yummy! Thank you for posting some of your new recipes. I can't wait till the new book is out. I can always count on the reliability of your recipes, in taste and nutrition. Best wishes as you complete this while balancing your life as a mom and wife! Way to go!