Vegan Moroccan Stew with Spicy Millet

The smell of Moroccan spices wafting through your home is something that has to be experienced at least once in your life. Cumin, cinnamon, cardamon, and ginger, the combination of spices that once were worth more then gold. In this dish, I once again cook without the use of oil. Using the Healthy Saute method, and then sticking it in the oven in a covered casserole dish, or in a crock pot as I did, it is a one pot meal hearty enough for any vegan and non-vegan alike will fall in love with.

Vegan Moroccan Spiced Stew: (Serves 2)

1/2 Onion
2 garlic gloves
1 inch ginger
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 sweet potato cut into 1 inch cubes, or there about
1/2 a squash, cut into 1 inch cubes, or there about
2 tbls tomato paste
Juice of 1 sweet orange
1/4 cup raisins
1 tsp molasses
11 dried apricots
3 bay leaves
a pinch of salt if desired

If cooking in the oven, preheat to 350 degrees. In a food processor, add the onion, garlic, ginger and spices (Not the bay leaves) and vegetable broth. Pulse until you have a nice smooth liquid. Its okay if it has a little bit of grit to it. Add this mixture to a wok and heat it up over medium heat until it becomes aromatic, about 1 minute. Now add the sweet potato and the squash, and cook it about 2 minutes more, making sure to get all the spice mixture all over the veggies. Remove it all to a crock pot, and add in the remaining ingredients. Cook on high for an hour or until the veggies are easily pierced with a fork. If using the oven, cook in a covered casserole dish for 1 hour. Season with salt after tasting. Serve this with my gluten free side dish, spicy millet. Recipe Follows.

Spicy Millet:

1 cup millet
2 1/2 cups water or broth
4 tbls vegetable broth
1 tsp honey
4 tbls tomato paste
1 garlic glove crushed
2 tsp chili powder
2 tbls cilantro
Pinch salt

Cook the millet in the water, 25 minutes. Do not cover it up. In a separate pan, mix the remaining ingredients over low heat. When the millet is finished cooking, add the sauce to it, and mix it up until the millet turns red. Garnish with extra cilantro if desired.

Millet is a wonderful side dish that cooks like Rice. It is gluten free so for people who can’t or don’t want gluten, this is a great alternative to couscous. In fact, traditional couscous is made from millet, however most vendors in america make it out of the cheaper alternative, wheat. 1 cup of cooked millet gives you 19% of the RDA of magnesium, making it a very heart healthy grain.