Eat With Gladness

Couscous with Vegetables and Chickpeas

This is a recipe from North Africa, and was well loved by my family last night.  It is a spicy vegetable stew.  The several spices and flavors were warming on the snowy spring evening that we had.  And it was fun to talk to the kids about the types of food that children in North Africa eat.  We even broke out the globe!  Enjoy the flavors...

4 TBSP olive oil
2 large onions, roughly chopped
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 TBSp peeled and minced ginger
1 large pinch of saffron threads, or 1/2 tsp ground tumeric
1/4 tsp cayenne, or to taste
1 tsp ground coriander
3 whole cloves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 medium carrots, roughly chopped
1 pound winter squash, trimmed and cut in chunks
2 medium zucchini, chunked
1 cup vegetable broth
2 cups cooked, or 1 can chickpeas
1/2 cup raisins or dried cherries
1 recipe of couscous, as directed

Place the olive oil in a large saucepan and heat.  Add the onions and bell pepper and pinches of salt and lots of pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are tender.  Add the ginger, saffron, cayenne, coriander, cloves, cinnamon and stir.  Add the carrots, squash, zucchini, and cup of stock.  Turn the heat to low, and cover until the mixture simmers steadily.  Cook until the carrots are tender, 30 minutes, adding more liquid if needed.  Add the chickpeas and the raisins and cook for another 10 minutes.  Serve over couscous.

     Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do.... Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun- all your meaningless days.  
                                                                                         - Ecclesiastes 9:7-9