Moroccan Carrot Salad with Saffron Couscous

We are having beautiful spring-like weather in the Bay Area--68 degrees today and 72 tomorrow and I have spring-fever big time!  Spring always reminds me of carrots and so I couldn't pass up getting a bunch of beautiful tri-color (purple, cream and orange) carrots at the market today.

With carrots this sweet and tender I didn't want to cook them and so I shaved them into thin ribbons and tossed them with a Moroccan Vinaigrette made with freshly squeezed orange juice, lemon juice, sherry vinegar, cumin, coriander, paprika, ginger, garlic, cilantro and olive oil.  I then made a whole wheat couscous with saffron, dried apricots, almonds, pistachios, oil cured olives, preserved lemon and chickpeas.  So easy, fresh and delicious--perfect for a day like today!

Moroccan Marinated Tofu with Fruity Couscous

I love North African, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine.  The combination of flavors are amazing, especially when you mix several regions together to create a dish that is spicy, sweet, and tangy.  I know from my photo it's hard to see, but the tofu has been marinated and then threaded on wooden skewers, pan seared and then served over the couscous.  The plate I used has a lot of detail and makes it hard to see the food, but I love my Moroccan plates and use them whenever I can!
 

To marinate the tofu, I used extra firm tofu and pressed it for about an hour to remove any excess moisture.  I then made a marinade using ground cinnamon, turmeric, cumin, pimenton, saffron, fresh garlic, chopped marcona almonds, minced preserved lemons, sliced green olives, lemon juice, olive oil, vegetable stock and salt and pepper.  I then marinated the tofu for about an hour and then threaded it on skewers alternating it with sliced olives and then pan seared it until golden brown.

 

For the whole wheat couscous I used toasted pistachios, currants, ground sumac, fresh mint, fresh parsley, olive oil, and salt and pepper.  I then made a sauce with the reserved marinade, adding additional vegetable stock to thin it and simmered it for a few minutes until the garlic was tender.  I then poured the sauce over the tofu, and garnished with additional mint....Just delicious!

Pumpkin Walnut Cake with Candied Orange Syrup

I was flipping through my cookbooks trying to find a dessert recipe that would go well with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, or potentially My Moroccan Thanksgiving and I came across a recipe for a Pumpkin Walnut Cake with Candied Orange Syrup.  This happens to be a perfect recipe for both because it uses pumpkin, but also uses spoon sweets (fruits cooked in syrup), which is a typical for dessert served in Middle Eastern countries.  So after veganizing the recipe, and also by adding cardamon spice to the syrup, I think that it turned out great and it is definitely a contender for this Thanksgiving!

Candied Orange Syrup:

2 cups unfiltered sugar

2 cups filtered water

1 large seedless orange, thinly sliced

1 tsp ground cardamon

5 black peppercorns

Note:  Kumquats would also work really well with this recipe; however they are very labor intensive because you need to remove all the seeds after slicing.

Method:

• Add water, sugar, cardamon and peppercorns to a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar.
• Add orange slices and stir to coat each slice.
• Reduce heat to medium low, and cut out a piece of foil and place directly on top of oranges to slow the evaporation.  Cover pan with another piece of foil and slowly simmer for about 1 1/2 hours until syrup is the consistency of honey.
• Remove from heat and let oranges cool in syrup before removing.
• Once orange slices are cool enough to touch, strain syrup into another bowl, pressing the orange slices lightly to remove excess syrup and chop orange slices and set aside.  You'll need a 1/2 cup for the cake and 1/4 cup for garnish. 

Ingredients:

2 sticks softened Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks, plus 1 tbsp for pan
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, plus a little more for dusting pan
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1 cup pure maple syrup
4 1/2 tsp Ener-g Egg Replacer, plus 3 tbsp filtered water
1 cup organic pumpkin puree
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup coarsely chopped candied orange slices

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350 and position oven rack in the middle of oven.
• Butter an angle food cake pan and dust lightly with flour and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, add flour, baking soda, baking powder and spices and whisk until combined, set aside.
• In a small bowl, whisk together egg replacer and water until frothy and set aside.
• In a large bowl, using a mixer whip butter until fluffy.  Add maple syrup and mix again.  Next add egg replacer and pumpkin puree and mix until combined.
• Slowly add flour to pumpkin mixture, and mix just until smooth.
• Fold in chopped candied orange and walnuts.
• Using a spatula, spoon cake batter into pan and smooth surface.
• Bake for about 1 hour, turning half way through the cooking process.  Cake will be finished when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Remove cake from oven and let cool on a baking rack for about 20 minutes.  Remove from cake pan and let cool further on rack, positioned over a sheet tray to catch syrup.
• Spoon syrup over cake and then carefully lift cake to a serving platter or cake stand.
• Garnish with candied walnuts, candied orange and additional syrup. 

Candied Walnuts:

10-12 whole raw walnut halves
2 tbsp powdered sugar

Method:

• Bring a small pot of water to a boil and add walnuts.  Blanch for about 1 minute and then drain and toss in powdered sugar to coat evenly.
• Place walnuts on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes until sugar has caramelized, turning nuts over half way through the cooking process.
  

My Moroccan Thanksgiving

I'm really struggling about what I'm going to serve for Thanksgiving this year.  Do I go with a traditional menu, or something a bit more interesting like Moroccan.  I have about five more posts to do using traditional recipes and then I'm going to make my decision.  But both my husband and I are leaning towards Moroccan and we think our dinner guests will like it too!

There are a lot of different components to this dish.  It's basically your entire meal served on one plate--very much like a traditional Thanksgiving.  If I do serve this dish as our main course, I will start the meal with a salad of roasted chioggia beets, shaved fennel, baby greens, marcona almonds, candied orange peel and a toasted fennel-blood orange vinaigrette.  And for dessert I'll serve a spiced pumpkin cake with a cardamon-orange syrup and candied oranges (which I'll post this week)...Yes, the more I think about it, the more I'm leaning towards Moroccan!
 

Saffron-Tomato Broth:

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1 stalk celery, sliced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 14oz can crushed tomatoes

1 tsp saffron threads

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Method:

• Crumble saffron threads in cold vegetable stock and let sit for about 10 minutes to bloom.
• In a large dutch oven or stock pot, cook onion and celery in olive oil on medium heat until soft.
• Add garlic, red pepper, thyme, bay leaf, tomatoes, and saffron vegetable stock and salt and pepper to taste and bring to a boil.  
• Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about one hour until broth has reduced by half and is flavorful.
• Strain broth, keep warm and set aside.

Tomato-Pistachio Chutney:

1 lb pearl or cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup raw pistachios, toasted
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 tbsp minced mint
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground paprika
Juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Method:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Toss tomatoes with 1 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper and roast for about 20 minutes until charred, tossing half way through the cooking process.
• Remove from oven and let cool.
• Once tomatoes are cool, remove skins and roughly chop.
• Place tomatoes in a bowl and add the remaining ingredients and season with salt and pepper.
• Chill in the refrigerator until ready to use, return to room temperature before using.

Lemon Scented Lentils:

1 1/2 cups French green lentils
4 cups vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
Juice of 1 lemon
1 1/2 tsp ground sumac
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Method:

• Add lentils, bay leaf and vegetable stock to a small sauce pan.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 17-20 minutes until lentils are soft but still retain their shape.
• Drain lentils well and then return to sauce pan.  Add olive oil, lemon juice, ground sumac and salt and pepper to taste.  Mix well, cover lentils and set aside.  

Couscous:

2 cups whole wheat couscous
2 1/2 cups filtered water
1 tbsp extra virgin olive
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup golden raisins
1 tbsp minced preserved lemon (optional)

Method:

• Place couscous in a medium sized bowl.
• Add olive oil and salt and using your fingers, rub the olive oil through the couscous grains.
• Bring water to a boil and pour over couscous--just enough water so that it covers the couscous by about a 1/4".
• Cover bowl with a plate and set aside for 15 minutes.
• Remove plate and fluff couscous with a fork and fold in raisins and preserved lemon peel. 

Roasted Acorn Squash:

1 acorn squash, cut into about 8-10 wedges depending on size
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 tbsp extra virgin olive
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Method:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Toss squash with cinnamon, maple syrup, olive oil and salt and pepper and roast for about 10 minutes until soft and caramelized, turning half way through the cooking process.
• Remove from oven and keep warm until ready to use.

Sauteed Spinach:

1-2 lbs organic baby spinach, washed, dried
1 tbsp minced garlic
1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Method:

• Heat a large saute pan on medium-low, add olive oil, garlic and saute until just starting to bubble.
• Immediately add spinach and salt and pepper and saute until just wilted.
• Keep warm and set aside.

Mint Yogurt Sauce:

1/2 cup vegan sour cream or cashew cream
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp ground sumac
2 tbsp minced fresh mint
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Method:

• I made a cashew cream from scratch (1/2 cup cashews, 3/4 cup filtered water, blended until smooth).  But you can purchase your favorite vegan sour cream (I like Follow Your Heart).
• Mix all ingredients in a bowl and chill until ready to use.

Assembly:
(Serves 4)

• Place couscous on the plate, followed by lentils, spinach, chutney, squash yogurt sauce and then ladle over saffron broth.
• Garnish with additional mint and preserved lemons.

Moroccan Preserved Lemons

I have never been to Morocco but we came really close in 1999 when my husband and I traveled to Spain and to Gilbraltar.  High atop the Rock of Gilbraltar you can see the coast of Africa and Morocco.  We discussed going but then we would of had to rearrange our itinerary and would of missed traveling to several cities in southern Spain.  Looking back, it's unfortunate that we didn't go since it was so close and would of been a short ferry ride or plane flight.  Oh well, hopefully one day we'll go back and make Morocco a definite stop on our itinerary. 

Until then, I love making and eating Moroccan cuisine (vegetable tagines/stews that are spicy, sweet and savory, and couscous flavored with nuts and dried fruits), but you can't make Moroccan cuisine without using preserved lemons.  I've purchased preserved lemons at Whole Foods or other specialty markets but they just don't taste the same as making your own.  And they're really easy to make.  You just need to plan accordingly because they take about a month to preserve but will last up to six months.

Preserved lemons are pickled in salt and they are one of the most common ingredients (condiment) used in Moroccan cooking.  Normally, only the peel of the preserved lemon is used in cooking and the pulp or flesh is discarded.  I always make a small batch using 3-4 lemons, which seems to work well for the amount of Moroccan dishes I make.

Ingredients:

1 pint mason jar, sterilized

3-4 medium lemons, preferably organic, washed really well

1/3 cup coarse sea-salt

Juice of 4-6 lemons, enough juice to cover the lemons in the jar

Method:

• Sterilize the mason jar and lid before using.
• Wash and dry lemons and cut into quarters, but leave the lemon quarters attached at the stem.
• Coat the inside of the lemons liberally with sea salt and press the lemon closed.
• Press the lemons tightly together in the jar and and cover entirely with lemon juice.
• Store in a cool, dry place shaking the jar every day for three-four weeks.
• Store in the refrigerator for up to six months.
• To use, scoop out and discard pulp and rinse the lemon peel under water to remove any remaining salt.
• Chop, dice or mince and use in your favorite Moroccan recipe.