Vegetable Stew with Couscous, Carrot-Pasta Sauce and a Thai Curry

Kitchen Diary - haha. So I’m posting three recipes this time… All of these turned out really nice. Good for a chilly evening.

We like to make this vegetable stew - it is versatile and easy. It benefits from the flavours of the spices, slow cooking in tomato base, and large chunks of veg which you can vary seasonally, but carrots are a real must
For a nice big pot I used:

two handfuls of chickpeas, soaked overnight and boiled separately (adding a pinch of baking soda speeds up the cooking, or you can use a pressure cooker)
one large onion roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
a little olive oil
a can of peeled plum tomatoes
3 tsp ras-el-hanout (a North African spice mix, I will post a recipe some other time)
half an onion squash (butternut also works well, or other pumpkins and squashes) cut in large chunks
three medium sized carrots cut in large chunks
two parsnips cut in large chunks
a handful of raisins and barberries each

Fry the onion and garlic in a little oil. Add the tomatoes, squish them with a wooden spoon, add the spice, a tsp of brown sugar if you want, salt. Add all the veg and the pre-boiled chickpeas (with their water, if desired) and one to two times the empty tomato can full of water. Boil slowly till done. Stir in raisins and barberries. Serve with couscous or bulghur wheat and harissa paste. I like to mix some chopped coriander leaves with my couscous, or a mix of coriander and parsley or mint.

The following pasta sauce sounds unlikely, but was very nice:
six big carrots
one medium potato
some soft cheese, mascarpone, blue cheese, puck, Schmierkäse
lots of freshly ground pepper

Boil the veg, if you want you can add a veg stock cube. Blend with a hand blender, adding the cheese. Serve with pasta. DD loved it.

My version of a Thai curry
half an onion squash, cut in to small pieces
a small broccoli head, broken into florets, stems cut into pieces
a small onion
a little vegetable oil
2 tsp red thai curry paste
one stick lemongrass (innerparts only, finely chopped)
1 tsp ground cumin
chopped coriander leaves
lemon or lime juice
lemon pepper or black pepper
1 can coconut milk
a tsp jaggery or brown sugar
salt

Fry onion in oil, add cumin, lemongrass and curry paste. Add coconut milk and plenty of water. Add pumpkin and brokkoli stems, salt and pepper, jaggery. Boil. Season with lemon or lime juice and coriander leaves and serve with steamed rice.