Moroccan Tagine Vegetables

What I love about being part of a food community, is the amount of generous sharing that buzzes around us foodies. This week’s find, Saffron Road Moroccan Tagine Simmer Sauce was shared with me by a wonderful Chicago blogger, Yvonne Maffei of My Halal Kitchen. As I am co founder of Eat Write Retreat, a food bloggers conference held annually in DC, Yvonne was one of our fabulous participants this past May and was sponsored by the Saffron Road food company.

I honestly had never heard of Saffron Road products before this year’s conference and just from experiencing being with the delightful Yvonne, I knew I needed to know their line of foods. Their food line was just as spirited as Yvonne herself. I was drawn to choosing the Moroccan Tagine simmer sauce as I’m growing weary of putting together a zillion ingredients for a sauce.

Sweet and spicy with the just the right balance of dates and tamarind, the sauce goes beautifully with my melange of healthful vegetables all simmered down into a luscious vegetarian stew. But do try this sauce on chicken as well. Please take a peek at all their authentic products, they are as near as your grocer’s shelf!

www.saffronroadfood.com

MOROCCAN TAGINE VEGETABLES

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon Garam Masala
6 large shallots, peeled and halved
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks
2 large parsnips, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks
1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks
1 cup peeled and cubed turnips
1 cup reduced sodium, low fat chicken or vegetable broth
1 ( 7 ounce) package Saffron Road Moroccan Tagine Simmer Sauce
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 tsp sea salt
½ cup diced dried apricots
2 teaspoons honey
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Garnish: 1/4 cup finely minced fresh parsley

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add in the cumin and Garam Masala and heat for 1 minute.

2. Add in the shallots and saute for 3 minutes. Add in the carrots, parsnips, sweet potato and turnips and saute for 8-10 minutes until browned.

3. Add in the broth, Saffron Road Moroccan Tagine Simmer Sauce, orange juice and salt. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake covered for 45-50 minutes until the vegetables are very tender. During the last 10 minutes of cooking, mix in the apricots.

4. Drizzle in the honey and grind in the black pepper and mix well. Garnish with minced parsley.

All photographs and recipe testing by Olga Berman from Mango & Tomato.