Moroccan style vegetable stew

We had our first reasonable harvest from the vege patch a couple of days ago. As in, more than a tiny tomato that you carefully cut in half and share as a treat!

Tonight we had a feast using homegrown eggplants, sweet long red peppers and a red onion. I added a few other things as well, but it was rather special to eat a meal made of your own produce! It was really yummy, too!

Moroccan Style Vegetable Stew

(serves 4)

1 red onion, chopped

1 large or 2 small eggplant, diced & salted for 20 mins, rinsed

1 large red capsicum or equivalent, diced

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 heaped tsp Ras el Hanout* or other Moroccan spice mix

400g tin diced tomatoes (or equivalent fresh if you have them in the garden!)

400g tin chickpeas, rinsed

1/2 cup green olives

1/4 cup finely chopped corriander

Natural yoghurt, to serve

Cous cous, to serve

Cook onion in a large frypan with a lid until beginning to turn translucent. Add eggplant and cook for 4-5 mins. Add capsicum, garlic and spice mix and cook until spice mix is lovely and fragrant. Add tomatoes, chickpeas and about 1 cup water. Cook, covered, for about 15 mins or until eggplant is properly cooked through. If the mixture is looking dry, add some more water. Add olives, most of the corriander and check seasoning.

Serve the stew on cous cous with a generous dollop of yoghurt and sprinkle over the remaining corriander. Enjoy!
*Ian Hemphill of Herbie's Spices says that Ras el Hanout is considered to be the ultimate in spice blends, can be made up of over 20 different spices, and 'is subtly curry-like with a spicy yet floral fragrance and robust yet subtle flavour' (Spice Notes, p. 471). If you can get your hands on some, do, it's worth it!

P.S. Apparently when you're 13 months old, chickpeas are de-li-cious!