Our new favorite noodle. Not exactly a noodle I suppose, but kind of? These thick oval discs come in a vacuum sealed package in the fresh noodle section of Asian markets and are simply scrumptious when stir fried with veggies and a rich soy saucy sauce. We used broccoli, carrots, mushrooms and cabbage, but you could use whatever you have around!

Loosely based on this recipe.

Sauce
3 tablespoons light soy sauce (preferably a Chinese brand such as Pearl River)
1 tablespoon Chinese dark soy sauce or mushroom dark soy sauce (this isn’t sweet like the Thai kind, it’s just rich and actually less salty than Chinese light soy sauce, gives great color)
2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
1 tablespoon mushroom “oyster” sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese chili oil (there are lots of good recipes out there including this one on Woks of Life)
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
2-3 garlic cloves minced
1 piece of ginger minced
Good pinch of white pepper
1 cup of water

Rice Cake Stir Fry
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 head of broccoli cut into florets
2 carrots peeled and sliced diagonally
8 ounces mushrooms cut into 4ths
1/2 cabbage sliced
1 pound fresh rice cakes
Green onions sliced

1. Mix together sauce ingredients.
2. Heat a wok and add sesame oil. Throw in the broccoli and carrots and spread out over the surface of the wok. Then leave them to char a little. Stir and add the mushrooms. After a few minutes, add the cabbage and continue to cook until slightly wilted.
3. Add the rice cakes and sauce and bring to a boil. Once the rice cakes are tender chewy, they are done. Top with green onions and enjoy!

The post Shanghai Stir Fried Rice Cakes (Vegetarian) appeared first on Mayabugs's Recipes.

The longer you cook down this garlic, eggplant and zucchini sauce the better it gets!

1 tablespoon olive oil
4 garlic cloves sliced
1 eggplant chopped
1 zucchini chopped
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes (oil packed)
Salt to taste
8 ounces cappellini
Feta cheese

1. Heat oil in a saute pan and add the garlic slices. Once the start to soften, add the eggplant and zucchini. Cook until nice and soft.
2. Add sun dried tomatoes and salt to taste and really cook down.
3. Boil cappellini and drain.
4. Top cappellini with eggplant and zucchini mixture, then top with feta cheese.

The post Garlicky Eggplant & Zuchini Cappellini appeared first on Mayabugs's Recipes.

Love this chickpea take on a tuna salad. The nutritional yeast and Maggi were inspired by Veg Annie’s recipe. She uses Bragg’s which tastes very similar to Maggi to me and I love nutritional yeast! I added onions and apple because I love little crunchy things in my “tuna” salad and my recipe is just vegetarian rather than vegan, I love me some Best Foods mayo!

1 1/2 cups cooked garbanzo beans or 1 can of garbanzo beans drained and rinsed
1/4 of an onion finely chopped
1 celery stalk chopped
1/3 of an apple chopped
1 tablespoons Best Foods mayo
1 tablespoon Maggi seasoning sauce (or Bragg’s liquid aminos)
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 tsp onion powder

1. Mash up the chickpeas and mix with all the ingredients.
2. Serve on toasted bread.

The post Chickpea “Tuna” Salad appeared first on Mayabugs's Recipes.

This is a delicious egg curry that I know I’ll be making again and again! Vindaloo has a touch of vinegar which I love. Here is a bit of history about the dish.

A lot of times I try and eliminate extra steps, for example, if a spice is added in two different ways skip one way. This time I decided to follow the recipe, layering the flavors. It came out super tasty!

Adapted from Nalini’s Kitchen.

Vindaloo Paste
1 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
5 cloves
1/2 piece cinnamon
A few dried red chilis
2 tablespoons coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 inch piece ginger minced
6 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons white vinegar

• Grind together until smooth adding a little water if necessary.

Egg Vindaloo
6 eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
3 cloves
1/2 piece cinnamon stick
1 cardamon pod
8 black peppercorns
2 green chilis sliced lenthwise
2 onions chopped
2 tomatoes chopped
Vindaloo paste

1. Boil the eggs, peel and cut in half lenthwise.
2. Meanwhile heat the olive oil in a saute pan. Add the cumin seeds. Once they start to brown add the cloves, cinnamon, cardamon pod, peppercorns and green chilis, and let them sizzle for a few seconds. Then add the onions and cook down until browned. Add the vindaloo paste and tomatoes and cook down until the tomatoes get mushy.
3. Add water to the consistency you like and the eggs and cook for a few more minutes.

The post Egg Vindaloo appeared first on Mayabugs's Recipes.

Adding a little garam masala and lots of garlic make this yellow moong dal special. Recipe is based on the moong dal tadka recipe from a great blog Veg Recipes of India.

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 onion chopped
1 tomato chopped
1/2 inch ginger minced
1 cup yellow moong dal
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
4 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
4-5 garlic cloves smashed with the side of a big knife
1 or 2 green chilis slice lengthwise
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
Pinch asafoetida/hing
Salt

1. Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add the onions and saute for a couple of minutes, then add the tomato, ginger, yellow moong dal, chili powder and turmeric and saute for a couple more minutes. Add the water and then pressure cook for about 6 minutes after the first whistle (I heat on high and then turn to low after the first whistle).
2. In a tadka or other small pan, heat the rest of the oil and add the cumin seeds. Once they start to pop, add the garlic and green chilis for a few seconds. Then add the garam masala and hing, then throw everything into the dal, stir and salt to taste.

The post Yellow Moong Dal w/ Garam Masala & Garlic appeared first on Mayabugs's Recipes.

I just LOVE this curry. I found this recipe for Malabar vegetable curry on Cooking Love! but used this recipe on Smita Chandra for the Malabar masala since I didn’t have a box of pre-made masala. The spice blend is truly wonderful. The Malabar coast is in Kerala, South India.

This curry is a little different with the corn and paneer and I didn’t have any green beans so I threw in the zucchini instead!

For this recipe, I list the amounts of the ingredients in the instructions as well. I find that I’m always going back and forth when reading recipes so I thought it might be helpful to have both a recipe list and the amounts in the instructions too!

Malabar Masala Powder/Other Ground Spices

1. Toast lightly in a skillet until fragrant:

1/2 tablespoon cumin seeds
1/2 tablespoon fennel seeds
1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
4 cardamon pods skin removed
4 cloves
1/2 of a star anise
1/3 of a cinnamon stick
1/4 teaspoon black peppercorn
1/4 teasoon mustard seeds

2.  Add the following and toast until the coconut is lightly browned:

1/2 tablespoon kasuri methi
1/2 tablespoon desiccated coconut
8 curry leaves

3.  Add 1 tablespoon coriander powder and toast for a few seconds (it burns fast!).

4.  Add all the toasted spices above and 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger and grind in a spice/coffee grinder.

Malabar Paneer and Vegable Curry
1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 onions chopped
1 tablespoon ginger minced
3 tablespoons Malabar masala powder
1 tablespoon kasmiri chili powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 tomatoes
3 carrots chopped
1 zucchini diced (or green beans chopped)
1/2 can coconut milk
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup corn (I used frozen)
5 ounces paneer cubed
Salt
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
6-7 curry leaves
Pinch hing (asafoetida)

1. Heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil in a saute pan and saute 2 chopped onions until translucent, adding 1 tablespoon of minced ginger part way through cooking.
2. Add 3 tablespoons of the Malabar masala powder, 1 tablespoon kasmiri chili powder and 1/2 teaspoon turmeric.
3. Blend 2 tomatoes in a small food processor/mixer and add to pan.
4. Add 3 chopped carrots, 1 diced zucchini, 1/2 can coconut milk and 1 1/2 cups of water and cook until the carrots are tender.
5. Add 5 ounces cubed paneer and 1/2 cup corn and cook until the paneer is soft. Salt to taste.
6. In a tadka or other small pan, heat 1 more tablespoon coconut oil. Add 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds. When they start to pop, add 6-7 curry leaves and a pinch of hing. Throw into curry.

The post Malabar Paneer & Vegetable Curry appeared first on Mayabugs's Recipes.

I love teriyaki and I love making all kinds of fun tacos. These teriyaki seitan tacos are the latest! Sweet, salty, spicy and creamy, I hope you’ll love them!

I bet you could sub tofu as well and it would be really tasty.

Teriyaki Sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon ginger minced
2 garlic cloves chopped

• Heat all ingredients together in a small sauce pan, bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.

Pineapple Salsa
1 tomato diced
1/2 onion diced
1/4 red bell pepper diced
1/4 of a pineapple diced
1/4 cup cilantro chopped
1 jalapeno chopped
Salt to taste

• Mix everything together and let the flavors meld.

Teriyaki Seitan Tacos
Olive oil
Seitan sliced
Teriyaki Sauce
Small flour tortillas
Pineapple Salsa
Avocado sliced

1. Heat oil in a skillet and saute the seitan until lightly browned. Throw in some teriyaki sauce reserving some to add at the table.
2. Heat the flour tortillas over an open flame.
3. Add teriyaki seitan to a tortilla and top with pineapple salsa and sliced avocados.

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Wow, wow, wow. So I LOVE banh mi, Vietnamese sandwiches made on fresh warm baguettes and spread with pate and topped with picked carrots and daikon, slice jalapenos and cilantro sprigs. The outside is warm, the inside cool, the pate umami-ish. Give me some extra! That is what I miss on a vegetarian banh mi, the pate. Until now.

I made David Lebovitz’s Faux Gras: vegetarian mushroom, lentil and walnut pate, and I’m telling you, it is spot on! Now I can make a proper vegetarian banh mi. Recipe coming…

I made tiny tweaks in my rush around the kitchen, but it’s almost the same 🙂

2 cups cooked lentils (brown or green)
1 cup toasted walnuts toasted
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion chopped
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
Juice squeezed from a lemon
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
1 tablespoons fresh sage
1/8 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon cognac
Salt
Fresh ground black pepper

1. Cook your lentils. I added 1 cup of lentils and 3 cups water to a pressure cooker and cooked on high until the first whistle, then on low for 5 minutes, then naturally let it depressurize. There were a little more than 2 cups of lentils, you can save the extra for something else (throw them in some soup!).
2. Toast the walnuts. I used the toaster oven for just a few minutes.
3. Add olive oil and butter to a saute pan and saute the onions until somewhat caramelized, then add the mushrooms and saute until soft.
4. Throw the onion and mushroom mixture into a food processor along with the lentils, walnuts, lemon juice, soy sauce rosemary, thyme, sage, chili powder, brown sugar, and cognac. Season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper.

The post David Lebovitz’s Faux Gras appeared first on Mayabugs's Recipes.

Oh my gosh, this Thai Curry soup is bowl drinking good! Look at our kid lapping it up. I was inspired by this yummy recipe on Budget Bytes. We used shirataki noodles which are these weird almost no calorie noodle, but are amazing in some recipes. I don’t get using them in things like Italian pasta, but for recips that use rice or glass noodles? Yum! They are translucent and chewy.

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 zucchini chopped
4-6 ounces mushroom sliced
2 garlic cloves minced
1 piece ginger minced
2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
1 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half
2 cups vegetable broth (or buillon and water)
1 can coconut milk
1-2 teaspoons palm sugar (sub brown sugar)
Juice from a lime
1/2 red onion thinly sliced
Cilantro chopped
2 packs shirataki noodles

1. Heat coconut oil in a sauce pan and add the zucchini and mushrooms. Once they get tender, add the garlic and ginger. Then add the red curry paste and cook for a another couple of minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes, vegetable broth, coconut milk, palm sugar and noodles. Once heated add the lime.
3. Serve topped with sliced red onions and cilantro. Lap it up!

The post Thai Curry Soup appeared first on Mayabugs's Recipes.

I’m in a Sichuan cooking kick. I got some great authentic ingredients on The Mala Project (awesome site, awesome store!) and have been trying things ever since. This recipe for mapu tofu uses mushrooms for the “meat”, just a little is all you need. I looked at different recipes and tried making it a few times and the recipe below was the end result. It is nice and spicy and mouth numbing. It is important to get good quality sichuan peppercorns. I had some before that just tasted bitter. The ones from The Mala Project are wonderfully mouth numbing and fresh!

The broad bean paste I use (Pixian broad bean paste) doesn’t include soy beans like a lot of brands in the US. I haven’t eaten enough of both to absolutely know the difference, but this one is very yummy.

The chili oil needs to be made ahead and I’ve included a delicious recipe link below. I make some in a mason jar and keep it in the fridge.

We have successfully trained our toddler to enjoy spicy food. I don’t know if he just came into it on his own, or if by adding it little by little since 8 months did the trick, but he can dip his finger in sambel oelek and loves this mapu tofu. This is very helpful considering we eat lots of spicy India and Asian food!

Handful of dried mushrooms (shiitake or any kind really)
2 tablespoons Chinese chili oil (this recipe is delicious!)
2 tablespoons Pixian broad bean paste (doubanjiang)
3 garlic cloves minced
1 inch ginger minced
3 green onions chopped
1 block of tofu (I’ve used extra firm with success and love it, but traditionally silken is used)
2 teaspoons sichuan peppercorns ground
1-2 teaspoons cornstarch

1. Soak mushrooms in boiling water until soft. Chop the mushrooms but save the water (good broth!).
2. Heat chili oil in a saute pan (LOVE THIS PAN!), add the broad bean paste, garlic, ginger and white part of the green onions and cook until everything is a little toasty.
3. Add the mushroom broth, tofu and sichuan peppercorns. Bring to a boil.
4. In a little bowl mix cornstarch and water, then pour into the dish and stir.
5. Serve with rice and top with the green parts of the green onions.

The post Mapu Tofu (Mushroom) appeared first on Mayabugs's Recipes.

1. Saute onions in coconut oil until slightly browned. Add potatoes and carrots and a little water and cover. Once potatoes are cooked through, add peas, corn, Cape Malay curry powder to taste, sugar and salt.
2. Lay out the won ton wrappers and add a little filling to each. Lightly wet 2 sides of the won ton wrappers with water, then fold over the wrapper to form a triangle pinching the edges together to seal.
3. Heat coconut oil and deep fry until golden.

The post Veggie Cocktail Samosas w/ Cape Malay Curry Powder appeared first on Mayabugs's Recipes.

When I saw this recipe for Sweet Korean Lentils on Sweet Korean Lentils I was intrigued, but I wasn’t sure lentils would work in this kind of dish. I was so happy because they totally worked! They are sweet, soy saucy, just lightly spicy, and oh so satisfying! Not to mention, easy.

I used brown lentils instead of red and they ended up taking a lot longer than the original recipe. Adjust your cooking to the type of lentil you are using. When in doubt, start with 2 cups of water in the sauce and just add water as need while the lentils are cooking.

Sauce
3 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
3 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Crushed chili flakes to taste

Lentils
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 onion finely chopped
1 cup lentils (I used brown lentils)
3 green onions chopped
1 tablespoon sesame seeds toasted (freshly toasted is best!)

1. Mix all the sauce ingredients together.
2. Add sesame oil to a saute pan and saute the onions until translucent. Add the lentils and sauce. Cook until the lentils are tender and most of the sauce has evaporated, 20-30 minutes. You could use a pressure cooker to speed this process up too.
3. Top with green onions, cilantro, and sesame seeds and serve over sticky rice!

The post Korean Inspired Lentils appeared first on Mayabugs's Recipes.

I completely thought I had blogged this recipe for cauliflower kurma before, but this morning I was looking for it on my blog and it wasn’t there! Thank goodness I found the recipe and can blog it now since it is delicious. Unfortunately, the print out I have of the recipe doesn’t contain the source.

The combination of coconut and fennel gives this curry a unique flavor. So yummy!

1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
5-6 curry leaves
1 onion chopped
2 green chilis chopped
1 cauliflower cut into florets
1 cup water
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
1 tablespoon cashews
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
Salt

1. Heat oil in a saute pan. Add the cumin seeds. Once they get brown, add the curry leaves. Then add the onion and green chilis and cook until the onions are browned.
2. Add the cauliflower and water and cover.
3. Meanwhile, grind the coconut, cashews and fennel seeds (I used a coffee grinder). Add to the cauliflower, add salt, and cook until the cauliflower is tender.

The post South Indian Cauliflower Kurma appeared first on Mayabugs's Recipes.

Look at the height on these popovers! They were so delicate and puffy! Serve with butter, jam, lemon curd, or eat them plain!

I mixed up these two recipes (here and here) and the combination worked perfectly.

1 cup whole milk
2 eggs
3 tablespoons of butter
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch baking soda

1. Warm 1 cup milk to a little more than room temp (I used the microwave). Put 2 eggs in a bowl of warm/hot water to bring them to room temp (or leave them out overnight). Melt 3 tablespoons butter.
2. Put milk, eggs, 1 tablespoon of the butter and salt in the blender and whip until frothy. Add flour and blend for a couple of minutes. Add a pinch of baking soda and blend for just a second to mix.
3. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Let the batter sit while the oven heats.
4. Pour remaining butter evening into popover pan and place in oven for a couple of minutes. Take out, pour batter evenly into pan and place in oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake for another 15 minutes.

The post Super Light and Puffy Popovers appeared first on Mayabugs's Recipes.

Another great recipe by Veg Recipes of India, these baby potatoes are super yummy and skip the onion giving them a totally different flavor. We had these with green beans w/ panch phoran which I will post soon.

8-10 baby potatoes
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
3/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 cloves
2 cardamon pods peeled
1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons coriander powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons ginger minced
2 green chilis slice lengthwise
2 tomatoes blended (in a food processor or blender)
1/3 cup yogurt
2 tablespoons half and half
1-2 cups water
Salt

1. Boil baby potatoes until tender, then peel.
2. Toast cumin seeds, fennel, cloves, cardamon and fenugreek until lightly brown. Coarsely grind in a spice or coffee grinder with the turmeric, chili powder, and coriander powder (I add the powdered spices at this point just to give more volume to the spices, it makes them grind better).
3. Heat olive oil in a pan and add the ginger and green chilis, then add all the spices and pureed tomatoes. Cook until the tomato is no longer raw, then add the yogurt and cook down to a paste.
4. Add the potatoes, water and salt and cook until the potatoes absorb the flavors.

The post Dum Aloo Uttar Pradesh Style appeared first on Mayabugs's Recipes.

This tofu curry I found on LA Fuji Mama is from Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. It isn’t Indian or Thai or really any specific cuisine. It is just coconut milk flavored with curry powder, green onions and cilantro. Simple, nice and tasty. My 16 month old son ate so much, he had a Buddha belly!

We had this with steamed carrots and broccoli, and jasmine rice.

2 tablespoons olive oil
6-8 green onions chopped
2 tablespoons curry powder (I used S & B Oriental Curry Powder)
1 tablespoon butter
1 can coconut milk (not reduced fat)
1 bunch of fresh cilantro chopped
1 cup water
Salt
Juice of 1 lemon
15 ounces extra firm tofu cut into 1-inch cubes

1. Heat olive oil in a saute pan and add the green onions and curry powder. Let sizzle for a couple of minutes.
2. Add the butter, coconut milk, water, cilantro and salt and cook for at least 10 minutes to let the flavors meld.
3. Add lemon and tofu and heat through. Enjoy!

The post Simple Tofu Curry appeared first on Mayabugs's Recipes.

This is a damn good bloody mary mix. It MUST sit overnight. Then in the morning, stir with vodka and top with lemons or limes, olives stuffed with garlic, celery, artichoke hearts and anything else you can think of.

Recipe courtesy of Thrillist. Kept it similar but used more tomato juice. It was quite a hit at a brunch we had!

64 ounces tomato juice
6 tablespoons horseradish
1/4 cup vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
Lots of shakes of Tabasco
Juice from 1 juicy lemon
1/4 cup olive brine (from a jar of green olives)
1 teaspoon celery seed ground (I ground the celery seed with the salt)
1-2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper

• Mix all together the night before!
• Add the fixings the next morning.

The post Bloody Marys Oh Yeah appeared first on Mayabugs's Recipes.

1 cup yellow moong dal
1/2 tablespoon mustard oil
1 onion sliced
1/2 cup shredded coconut (I used frozen)
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon mace (or you could use nutmeg)
1 teaspoon jaggery
Salt
1 1/2 tablespoons mustard oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 cloves
A few dried red chilis

1. Dry toast the yellow moong dal until a deeper golden color.
2. Heat mustard oil in a pressure cooker. Add onions and saute until a little browned. Throw in the dal, coconut (if using frozen, no need to defrost), turmeric, and 4 cups of water and pressure cook for 5-7 minutes (I bring the pressure cooker up to pressure on high, then turn to medium, and run under cold water to get the steam out before taking off the lid).
3. Add chili powder, cinnamon, mace, jaggery, and salt.
4. Heat the rest of the mustard oil in a tadka or other small pan. Add the cumin and once they start to brown add the cloves and red chilis. Throw into the dal. Voila!

The post Bengali Dal w/ Mustard Oil & Coconut appeared first on Mayabugs's Recipes.

This recipe has been sitting waiting to be posted! We just got back from Chile where Peruvian food is really popular so I thought it was a perfect time to post 🙂
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A very popular dish in Peru is called lomo saltado. It is basically strips of steak stir fried with onions, tomatoes, aji peppers, vinegar, soy sauce, and french fries served with white rice. My version uses mushrooms instead of steak. It is influenced by the Chinese cuisine in Peru.

Food in Peru is amazing by the way! The foodie capital of South America! I have had versions of this dish in the US and so was on a mission to find it on our trip to Peru a few years back. Easy to find, but trying to ask restaurants to substitute mushrooms for the steak was quite a challenge at times!

I made this right after we got back from Peru, but didn’t have the amarillo paste. This time I finally ordered it from amarillo paste. It is amazing and wonderful in this dish. Make sure to have all your prep done first, like cutting the onions and tomatoes.

Everything has to be cooked fast!

A couple handfuls of frozen french fries
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons amarillo paste
1-2 tablespoons of oil
2 containers of mushrooms sliced or quartered (16 ounces about)
2 red onions sliced fairly thickly
3 roma tomatoes sliced
Cilantro chopped

1. Bake fries according to the package.
2. Mix soy sauce, vinegar and amarillo paste in a bowl.
3. Add oil to a wok or saute pan over high heat. Throw in your mushrooms and cook until a little browned then remove from pan. Add a little more oil and stirfry the onions. Once tender crisp add in the tomatoes and cook for a minute or so. Throw in the sauce, mushrooms, french fries and cilantro.
4. Service with fluffy white rice.

The post Champinon Saltado (Peruvian Mushroom Stirfry) appeared first on Mayabugs's Recipes.

Preserved lemons have been sitting up there in the cupboard just waiting for me to use them. Finally I used them in this yummy Moroccan squash and chickpea stew recipe that I found on my favorite blog Smitten Kitchen. While the preserved lemons were the catalyst for making the dish, I actually wouldn’t have missed them. They are good, but I’m not a huge lemon/orange rind person and these definitely had the rind flavor going on.

I have this amazing Moroccan spice blend called ras el hanout so I used it instead of cinnamon and cumin, and instead of potatoes I threw in some cauliflower. The stew was delicious!

Also, loved this over Israeli cous cous. It is bigger and has a really fun texture!

1 tablespoon butter
1 onion chopped
4 garlic cloves smashed and chopped
2 tablespoons ras el hanout (or sub a cinnamon stick and 2 teaspoons ground cumin
12 ounces butternut squash cut into chunks (I use the already cut Trader Joe’s bag)
1/3 cauliflower cut into florets
2 cups vegetable broth
1 can diced tomatoes with the juice (14 ounces)
2 cups chickpeas cooked (or 1 1/2 cans drained)
Pinch saffron threads (optional)
1/2 preserved lemon chopped
1 cup green olives
Cous cous (we used Israeli cous cous)
Slivered almonds toasted
Yogurt plain

1. In a dutch oven or similar pan, saute 1 chopped onion and 4 cloves smashed garlic in 1 tablespoon butter until softened.
2. Add 2 tablespoons ras el hanout spice mix (or substitute one cinnamon stick and 2 teaspoons cumin powder) and saute for a few seconds.
3. Add the squash, cauliflower, 2 cups vegetable broth and diced tomatoes and cook until the squash is tender.
4. Add the chickpeas, saffron, preserved lemons and green olives and cook a few minutes longer to let the flavors meld.
5. Serve with cous cous, toasted slivered almonds and plain yogurt.

The post Moroccan Squash & Chickpea Stew appeared first on Mayabugs's Recipes.