Vegetable Tagine of my Dreams

I found this recipe on www.chow.com, a great site for foodies. I did not follow the recipe to the letter because of ingredient restrictions (there was no way I was finding preserved lemons in east williamsburg at 7 pm), but I will tell you what I did here.

It was incredibly delicious! (The illustration is from the website, not my photo. I actually used tricolor couscous and it looked like a plate full of rainbows!!!!) Aside from the preserved lemons, the only ingredient that it might be hard to come by would be the saffron, which luckily my roomate had at home.



Ingredients:
* 6 tbsp olive oil
* 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
* 2 tsp cumin
* 1 cinnamon stick
* 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
* 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
* 3 medium carrots, peeled, medium dice
* 1 c canned diced tomatoes in juice
* 4 c vegetable broth
* Pinch saffron
* 1 head cauliflower, large dice
* 1 1/4 c green olives, pitted and halved
* 2 cups cooked chickpeas or canned chickpeas, drained
* 3/4 tsp lemon zest, hearty squeeze of juice

* 3 cups dry couscous (I recommend tri-color!)
* 3 cups water
* 1 c greek-style yogurt
* 1 cup whole almonds, toasted and chopped
* 1/2 cup sliced scallions

1. Heat olive oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add onion and season with salt and black pepper; sweat onions, (~5 min).
2. Stir in cumin and cinnamon stick, stir.
3. Add ginger and garlic, stir.
4. Add carrots, cook until they start to get tender.
5. Add broth and tomatoes, saffron.
6. Simmer until the vegetables are almost cooked (~5 min)
7. Add cauliflower, olives, chickpeas, lemon, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower is just tender, about 10 minutes more.
8. Taste and add seasoning if necessary

Serve the tagine over couscous with chopped toasted almonds, scallions, and greek-style yogurt.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO FLAVORFUL & HEALTHY!!!!