Moroccan Veggie Stew

It is now week 3 of my CSA summer, and I've definitely learned a few things. First, always eat the lettuce first. Always. I picked up a salad spinner at boutique Target, which has helped immensely. Now I have at least until Saturday (we get our boxes on Thursday), so I don't get as salad-ed out. The rest of the items in the box so far seem to last through the weekend, which gives me a chance to look up recipes and do some planning.

I'm late in posting this recipe, but it is definitely worth posting!

We got a bunch of lacinato kale (also known as dinosaur kale - rawr!) in our first box and I was stumped. I'm not sure if I've ever eaten kale, much less cooked with it. So... after a lot of googling, I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. The only change I made was dropping the lentils... they're not my thing.

Although it was a LOT of chopping, I thought this was a super easy recipe and it made my house smell incredible with all of those spices & veggies stewing. I chose to freeze most of it so I would have something when I didn't feel like cooking (which, believe it or not, happens more often than I care to admit). The stew is also delicious straight out of the fridge after it sits overnight!

Moroccan Veggie Stew

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 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 the tomatoes, honey, carrots, sweet potatoes, potatoes, garbanzo beans, and dried apricots. Bring to boil; reduce heat to low.
4. Simmer stew for 30 minutes or until the vegetables 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.
   

Footnotes

Make Ahead Tip:

If making ahead or freezing, prepare stew through Step 3. Simmer for 5 minutes over low heat; remove from heat and cool in the pot or in freezer-safe container. Transfer to the fridge (store for up to 3 days) or freezer. The vegetables store better if not fully-cooked prior to refrigeration or freezing. When ready to eat, (if frozen) thaw in refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours, then pour stew into a pot, bring just to a boil, and simmer until heated through.