Sunday, October 4, 2009

Autumn Vegetable Tagine

1 cup dried chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 Tbs olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed (3 1/2 cups)
1 lb collard greens, coarsely chopped (8 cups)
1 lb plum tomatoes, seeded and coarsely chopped (2 cups)
1 Tbs harissa, or sriracha sauce and 1/4 tsp of ground cumin and ground coriander
1 10-oz pkg whole-wheat couscous
2 Tbs chopped cilantro

1) Combine chickpeas and 4 cups water in pressure cooker; bring to a boil. Lock lid in place. Bring to high pressure over high heat. Reduce heat, and cook 2 minutes. Release pressure using automatic pressure release, or carefully transfer cooker to sink, and run cool water over rim of lid. Remove lid, tilting away from you to let steam escape. Rinse and drain chickpeas. Set aside.
2) Heat oil in pressure cooker over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; saute 3 minutes, or until onion is soft. Add chickpeas and 3 cups water. Lock lid in place. Bring to high pressure over high heat. Reduce heat, and cook 15 minutes. Release pressure using automatic pressure release, or transfer cooker to sink, and run cool water over rim of lid. Remove lid, tilting away from you to let steam escape.
3) Stir in squash and collard greens. Lock lid in place. Bring to high pressure over high heat. Reduce heat, and cook 5 minutes. Release pressure using automatic pressure release, or transfer cooker to sink, and run cool water over rim of lid. Remove lid, tilting away from you to let steam escape. Stir in tomatoes; cover, and let stand 5 minutes. Stir in harissa. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.
4) Meanwhile, prepare couscous according to package directions. Fluff with fork. Serve tagine over couscous. Sprinkle with cilantro.

Review: I still don't have a pressure cooker. So, I used a can of chickpeas and shaved quite a bit of time off the cooking process. I also learned that if you're using canned chickpeas, they should go in after the squash is mostly cooked, as they turned into mush by cooking for so long. It took about 15 minutes for the squash to become edible. I then added (because neither harissa, nor sriracha sauce exist in Pocatello) chili garlic sauce with cumin and coriander added, which is my understanding of what harissa is. And, chili garlic sauce is easily found in any Asian food aisle. It was super yummy and I want to use that particular ingredient more often. And, for any Costco members - the produce area now carries diced up butternut squash. I had unfortunately already bought a squash when I found that, and it takes a good 15 minutes to dice up a butternut squash. I also used bulgur instead of couscous. But, this is an awesome autumn dish and I ended up with 6 good sized servings. Wow.

3 comments:

  1. Where do you find bulgar? I can't seem to find it in our grocery store.

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  2. We get it in the bulk food section of our grocery store. It's carried like that in two local grocery stores, but I honestly haven't seen it packaged anywhere. Bob's Red Mill sells it, if you can find that brand of stuff at the store, it might be there (or in that section).

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  3. Maybe at Mrs. Green's. I haven't seen a bulk food section at Food Emporium. I might check the new A&P Fresh also. Thanks.

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