Moroccan Spiced "Peas"

We have a lot of family favorites in our house. And for the last 2 and half years I've been on the journey to find and create new meals to ensure we were eating healthy and tasty meals. This meant, though that I have rarely remade even our family favorites.

After so long I'm starting to slow down on the new recipes and rotate in some of our most loved dinners. This is one of them -- it's actually one of Scot absolute favorites. The dish is sweet, savory, and full of mellow spices.  It is easy to prepare, but looks nice when served!

I created this dish, actually, from a meat version that is probably buried somewhere on this blog. And buried it should stay -- the non-meat version is even better than the original in our opinion. If you need a little extra umph for the dinner, or want to make sure you're getting tons of protein in at dinner, serve this with quinoa instead of couscous.

Moroccan Spiced Peas

Serves 4-8 (depending on whether it is served alone or as a side dish) 6 cups

Serving Suggestions: Eat this with Curried Butternut Squash soup and a small side salad.

What you'll need:

• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 2 cups chopped carrots
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 TBSP paprika
• 1 tsp allspice
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 2 cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• ½ cup finely chopped dried apricots
• ½ cup raisins
• 1 cup loosely packed chopped fresh parsley leaves OR ¼ cup dried
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup plain dry couscous OR 3 cups cooked quinoa or millet
• salt and pepper to taste

What you'll do:

• Heat 1 TBLS oil in a large skillet.  Once hot, sauté carrots, onion and spices until carrots are tender, about 10 minutes.
• Stir in the remaining 1 TBSP oil, beans, fruit, parsley, and 3/4 cup broth (reserve remaining broth for next step).  Simmer uncovered for about 5-10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare couscous as directed, substituting remaining broth for the water. Fluff when done.  If you are using quinoa, make it first.
• Scoop couscous onto plates and top with chickpea mixture. Alternatively, mix everything together and serve in a bowl!

Note:  This is meal is most flavorful when served shortly after it is prepared.  If you plan to reheat leftovers, we suggest storing the chickpea mixture and couscous in separate bowls to prevent the couscous from absorbing too much of the moisture.