This was such a simple meal and I was looking for something nice and light after getting a tad excited about the onset of cold weather and winter food.  It really is a bit of a blank canvas for any cook and you could pretty much clean out your crisper (as I did) and use any bits and bobs of veggies lying around.  I used a combo of sweet carrot, earthy cauliflower and crunchy green beans which was divine with a blend of spices, lemon, tomato and a hint of honey.  So let the basis of this Tagine be your inspiration and enter into cooking it with gay abandon!  Red or green capsicum, broccoli, zucchini, squash, a tin of chickpeas or lentils.  Go on, impress me!

Prep time:  15 Minutes              Cooking time:  20 Minutes             $  Low Budget

Serves 4

Olive oil for frying

1/2 a cauliflower, cut into bite sized pieces

2 carrots peeled, halved and sliced diagonally (looks nicer!)

2 handfuls of green beans, topped and halved diagonally

2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

2cm of ginger, grated

1 brown onion, halved and sliced top to bottom

2 tsp of ground cumin

2 tsp of ground coriander

1 tsp of turmeric

1 tsp of dried chilli flakes

Juice of 1 lemon

2 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 cup of water

1 tbs of honey

1 cup of continental parsley leaves, roughly chopped

1 cup of coriander leaves, roughly chopped

Sea salt and cracked black pepper

4 tbs of greek yoghurt

Cous cous or rice to serve

Heat a large heavy based frypan and add a little olive oil.  Fry the onion until translucent and add the garlic and ginger.  Fry for a minute or so and then add the cauliflower and carrot.  Stir fry for  a few minutes until just starting to soften and then add the spices.  Stir to combine and then add the tomatoes, lemon juice, water and honey.  Season with a generous amount of salt and pepper and stir so that the spices have dissolved into the liquid.  Bring the mixture to a simmer and place a lid on to steam the veggies for 5 minutes.

Remove the lid and add the beans, stir them in to the mixture and pop the lid back on for 2 minutes and then remove the lid again and allow the sauce to reduce for 5 or so minutes.  You don’t want to over cook your beans as they look much prettier still bright green in colour.  Just before serving stir through most of the parsley and coriander (reserving a little for garnish.  Have a taste and add a little more seasoning if necessary.

To serve, place it over whatever side you wish to use (I actually just served it with crusty turkish bread) and dollop the yoghurt on top.  Spoon over any remaining sauce and sprinkle with the parsley and coriander.