Vegan Tunisian Vegetable Stew

Today I was looking in my Moosewood cookbook I got for Christmas from my sister and I came along a stew that I thought sounded pretty good. It is a Tunisian stew that is pretty hearty. I am a really big fan of soups and stews at the moment due it being winter and pretty cold in Chicago (it was 10 degrees today and I am told it is just beginning to get cold).

It doesn't take too long to make and it is rather healthy. The stew is primarily cabbage. I personally really enjoy cabbage, and since it's cheap, stays well in the fridge, and is a readily available item I try and use it fairly often. There is a Korean Cabbage Stew that I particularly enjoy, but that's another post.

Initially, overestimating the amount the cabbage would reduce (three cups of it), and not really thinking about the amount of space the chick peas would take, thought the stew wouldn't be as hearty as I normally enjoy it, and cut some potatoes. This was premature and I ended up eating that separately. The spices were a nice blend - 2 tsp coriander, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp turmeric. While it simmered it was pretty aromatic. The kitchen smelled like cinnamon, it was great. The recipe also takes cayenne, which I have been out of, so I replaced it with some paprika. It added a nice pepper flavor, but none of the kick. Next time I will have to use cayenne. The cinnamon was a nice touch, it mingled nicely with the coriander flavor. The stew is in about 28 oz of diced tomatoes, not drained, which was mostly absorbed by the vegetables. There is also a green pepper cut into thin slices (like the cabbage and onions in it). I am not normally a big fan of green pepper, but with the seasoning and the cabbage, it was a nice addition.

I am a pretty big fan of the recipe and would like to make it again, maybe with fewer chick peas and more potatoes, but then, that is quite a number of vegetables. Maybe I could leave the green pepper out? Then again, I really enjoyed the color and the flavor it added, whereas I am not sure the potatoes would bring much to the table.

I toasted some slivered almonds for the servings, but I forgot to put any on mine. Jessica put some on hers and said it was good - I should have gotten her to expound on that thought. I think the almonds would have brought a lot to the texture, considering everything in it is a rather soft vegetable, or bean.

It is a shame I didn't start my breads pre-ferment yesterday so I could have had a nice fresh baked bread with the stew. Looks like I will have to make another stew tomorrow with my bread.

Details on the bread tomorrow.

Hopefully I can use a roommates camera and get some pictures of the bread.