Experiments in Moroccan Cuisine

A couple of years ago we decided to go against tradition for our Christmas day meal and went Moroccan style instead.  Mr Cocopopia was even prepared to go veggie for the day and found this great recipe for Moroccan Spiced Pie from the BBC Good Food website.  The recipe advised that prep time was an hour and a half but I have to admit (probably because it was new to us) it did take a little while longer.  (By the way, if you think we've got loud taste in kitchen decor, that's just me playing around with photoshop!)

What made the recipe so interesting was that there were 3 parts to it because in addition to the filo wrapped pie, it was also served with home made houmous and a harissa yogurt sauce.  Stepping out of our comfort zone to prepare an unfamiliar meal with longer than usual preparation time, turned out to be worth the effort to create a special meal for a special day.

But we decided from that point on that we should include more Moroccan inspired meals into our diet, not just for the taste, but Moroccan cuisine can also be a healthy option for vegetarians and meat eaters alike.  The BBC Good Food website also gives some Top 10 Tips for healthy Moroccan cooking here.

Last week, my Slow Cooker Challenge took on Moroccan theme with a chickpea, sweet potato and mushroom tagine.  Spices included coriander, paprika, cumin, turmeric, cayenne pepper and fresh ginger and dried fruits (apricots and raisins) added to the flavour.

My recipe is a bit long and off-putting to include here (there are 25 different ingredients to start with!) and I wouldn't want to put you off, so here's another link to the BBC Good Food Guide site for a Slow Cooker Chickpea Tagine.  Its an easy recipe to start off with and you can play around with ingredients to suit your own taste.