Vegetarian Moroccan Stew with the Make Ahead Mamas and AllRecipes.com

Vegetarian Moroccan Stew - Recipe by the Make-Ahead Mamas

Spice blend

This week I had the opportunity to attend an interactive cooking event at Rachael Ray's test kitchen in NYC. Sponsored by AllRecipes.com, the go-to online recipe resource (unless you want a soup recipe and then you know where to go), allowed us to learn about their exciting interactive menu planner (more on that in a future post) and about an exciting cooking community called the Make-Ahead Mamas.

Deb of the Make-Ahead Mamas

Lentils for the stew

Make-Ahead Vegetarian Moroccan Stew

Deb Kapsner (or Busy Spoons) of Make-Ahead Mamas was on-hand to teach us how to cook delicious and healthy meals through their model of variety, community, and organization. The group is made up of 8 Seattle mamas who get together every 8 weeks to prepare 8-10 meals for their families. Not only a great concept to get out of the boring dinner rut, the Make-Ahead Mamas is a community whose members get together to share the ups and downs of parenting as they cook, enjoy wine, and try to make their lives easier by planning ahead.

At the interactive event, I was able to test out a delicious Beef Bulgogi with lettuce leaves and noodles, the flaky and savory Spinach Spanakopita, and Deb's flavorful Make-Ahead Vegetarian Moroccan Stew. All of the recipes were fantastic that also made me realize dinner doesn't have to be dull.

Being all about soups and stews, I instantly fell in love with the rich blend of flavors (cumin, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, turmeric, and cinnamon) used in this stew, along with blend of kale, sweet potatoes, lentils and chickpeas for protein. Being a hands-on event, we were all given stations to start chopping, packing and scooping up spices so that we could create our own Moroccan Stew at home. Still thinking about the delicious and easy-to-prepare recipes a day later, I decided to make the stew with my daughter Little Soupy. Since all of the ingredients were cut up at the event, this was one of the easiest stews I have ever made. We loved adding the layers of ingredient - not to mention how amazing it made my kitchen smell. An inspiring and fun afternoon, the Make-Ahead Mamas is a great way to combine varied eating within a fun and supportive community.

The Vegetarian Moroccan Stew cooking

Little Soupy cooking the Vegetarian Moroccan Stew

 Make-Ahead Vegetarian Moroccan Stew as Featured on AllRecipes.com

Ingredients:
    •    1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    •    1 teaspoon ground cumin
    •    1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
    •    1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
    •    1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
    •    1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
    •    1/8 teaspoon curry powder
    •    1 teaspoon kosher salt
    •    1 tablespoon butter
    •    1 sweet onion, chopped
    •    2 cups finely shredded kale
    •    4 (14 ounce) cans organic vegetable broth
    •    1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
    •    1 tablespoon honey
    •    4 large carrots, chopped
    •    2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
    •    3 large potatoes, peeled and diced
    •    1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
    •    1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
    •    1 cup dried lentils, rinsed
    •    1 teaspoon ground black pepper, to taste
    •    1 tablespoon cornstarch (optional)
    •    1 tablespoon water (optional)

Directions
    1.    Combine cinnamon, cumin, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, turmeric, curry powder, and salt in a large bowl, reserve.
    2.    Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Cook the onion in the butter until soft and just beginning to brown, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the shredded kale and reserved spice mixture. Cook for 2 minutes or until kale begins to wilt and spices are fragrant.
    3.    Pour the vegetable broth into the pot. Stir in the tomatoes, honey, carrots, sweet potatoes, potatoes, garbanzo beans, dried apricots, and lentils. Bring to boil; reduce heat to low.
    4.    Simmer stew for 30 minutes or until the vegetables and lentils are cooked and tender. Season with black pepper to taste. If desired, combine optional cornstarch and water; stir into stew. Simmer until stew has thickened, about 5 minutes.


To learn more about the Make-Ahead Mamas, please like them on Facebook.