Eat Healthy and Cheap
Chickpea and Apricot Tagine
Moroccan tagines have long paired legumes with dried fruit, using the cooking vessel's tight lid to trap steam and coax sweetness out of apricots or prunes without any added sugar. This version skips the traditional oil-fried onion base and sweats the vegetables in a few tablespoons of water instead, toasting the ras el hanout in that same moisture so its many spices open up before the tomato and fruit go in. The apricots do double duty: they soften and half-dissolve into the sauce as it simmers, sweetening it the way sugar would, while their tartness keeps the dish from tasting one-note the way a syrup-heavy version can. A squeeze of lemon juice at the end stands in for the salt most tagine recipes lean on.
Ingredients
- 1 Yellow onion, chopped
- 2 Carrots, halved lengthwise and sliced
- 3 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp Ginger, grated
- 2 tsp Ras el hanout
- 1 stick cassia cinnamon
- 2 tbsp Tomato paste
- 1 cup Canned crushed tomatoes
- 1 tsp no-salt vegetable bouillon
- 2 1/2 cups Chickpeas, cooked and drained
- 1/2 cup Dried apricots, quartered
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1 cup Whole wheat couscous
- 2 tbsp Almonds, toasted and roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp Cilantro, chopped
Method
- Warm a wide, heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion and carrots with 3 tablespoons (45 ml) water. Sweat, stirring and adding a splash more water whenever the pot looks dry, until the onion turns translucent and the carrots start to soften, about 8 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic and ginger. Cook for 1 minute, until the raw edge lifts.
- Push the vegetables to one side of the pot. Add the ras el hanout and the cinnamon stick to the bare spot and toast for 30 seconds, stirring them into the pot's moisture so the spices bloom instead of scorch.
- Stir in the tomato paste and cook until it darkens to brick red, about 1 minute. This is the savory backbone the dish would otherwise get from oil-fried aromatics.
- Pour in the crushed tomatoes, the no-salt bouillon, and 1.5 cups (360 ml) water. Bring to a simmer.
- Add the chickpeas and dried apricots. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and the apricots turn glossy and half-dissolve into the liquid. Their natural sugar is doing the work a spoonful of white sugar would otherwise do.
- Meanwhile, combine the couscous with 1.25 cups (300 ml) boiling water in a covered bowl. Let stand 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.
- Toast the almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat, shaking the pan often, until spotted brown, about 3 minutes. Roughly chop once cool.
- Take the tagine off the heat. Discard the cinnamon stick and stir in the lemon juice. The acid brightens the sauce the way salt usually would.
- Spoon the tagine over the couscous. Scatter with the toasted almonds and cilantro.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 445 calories, 16 g protein, 13 g fiber. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt.
