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Recipe number two. I made this dish at a cooking class for a gentleman who wanted to learn vegetarian dishes so he could feed his family healthy food. I suggested a Moroccan dish called Tagine. It is typically made with meat and cooked in ‘Tagine‘, which is a special ceramic cooking pot with a cone like lid. It is nice to have one at home but it isn’t necessary to make a delicious tagine  at home.

We started with a spice mix consisting of cumin, coriander, turmeric and cayenne pepper. We then sautéed some onions, garlic, tomato paste and harissa- a moroccan hot paste. We added potatoes, turnips, carrots and chickpeas to the mix including some broth.

This is a delicious dish for a crowd, especially with some whole wheat couscous. Try it next time you are entertaining…
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You have to admit- this salad (like yesterdays) looks gorgeous. Like the carrot salad, this one has most spices used in Moroccan cuisine. I did use smoked paprika- which is more of a Spanish ingredient- but since I love this spice on potatoes- I decided to use it in this salad.

The good thing about this dish, besides the taste, is that it can be made in advance. In fact it tastes better as the potatoes bathe in the delicious dressing for a few hours. The main ingredient in the dressing is a lot of powdered cumin. I always have lots of cumin seeds at hand but never buy the powdered variety since powdered spices loose their flavor very quickly. I ground the cumin and added it to the oil, cilantro, parsley and lemon juice. The smoky dressing was a great compliment to the creamy potatoes.

I grilled the potatoes the same way I did the carrots. It was very easy to make and the dish went perfectly with the lamb burgers and the carrot salad. It was a delicious, simple and healthy barbecue to prepare.

We all had a wonderful time and washed the delicious food down with some fabulous pomegranate mojitos. How do you make them- you ask??? Stay tuned tomorrow and I will share my husband’s fabulous recipe.
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This dish is delicious and great looking. I love making dishes that look attractive since we eat with our eyes first.

This is a continuation to yesterday’s post. I made the lamb burgers with this carrot salad. Since my general theme was Moroccan inspired- I looked for sides and salads to serve with the burgers. The first thing to come up was carrot salad. I looked at a bunch of recipes and came up with this one.

I used baby carrots but regular sized will do just fine too. I sliced them really thin and grilled them. I have a grill pan that I use for grilling vegetables, fish or anything that is difficult to manage on the grates. Once the carrots were golden brown but still crunchy, I added the super yummy orange dressing. I reduced some freshly squeezed orange juice and added honey, cumin, lemon juice and some herbs. It resulted in an amazing, flavorful sauce.

The great thing about this salad is that you can make it in advance since it is served at room temperature. I had everything ready in advance and all I did once company came was grill the burgers.

It was simple, convenient and a crowd pleaser- exactly the ideas you want for a fabulous long weekend- enjoy!
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Well, we are a week away from the official start to the barbecue season. Although this past year I have been very good about grilling regardless of the weather- but there is something special about this time of year. Everyone dusts off the outside furniture and the grill getting ready for lazy summer days.

We recently cleaned out our grill- I actually was trying to convince my husband to buy a new one since this one is about nine years old. He was not convinced, since it had never given us trouble. After we changed the grates and cleaned the inside- really well- it was like new again.

I digress-as usual… the idea was to talk about these fabulous lamb burgers. I wanted to post something different for Memorial day and instead of beef or turkey burgers, I decided to use lamb- and lamb made me think of Moroccan food. So, I started doing some research and came up with this fabulous burger recipe. It has garlic, shallots, cilantro, cumin and harissa- which is a Moroccan hot sauce. It was a big hit- super flavorful. I paired it with a sun dried tomato and herb mayonnaise- it is a great combination. I also decided against the regular soft buns and bought a very crusty sour dough bread- a match made in heaven!

Definitely make these for the upcoming long weekend- your family and friends will love you.
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I made this spicy potato salad for a friend who was having a sandwich and wine party. It was such a great idea to have a get together- casual and fun.

I wanted to make something with potatoes but not a typical salad. I envisioned a combination of an Indian and Moroccan salad. The spices in the two cuisines are very similar- cumin, cilantro,etc.

I started with tomato paste- I wanted to incorporate it into the dressing. In order to do that- I had to add some boiling water to it- otherwise the paste tastes raw and not very appealing. I mixed the paste with the water and some garlic. That was the base. Next, I added harrisa, preserved lemons and lemon juice. I balanced the dressing off with honey and some roasted cumin. Some olive oil and cilantro later- I had an amazingly delicious dressing. I added it to hot potatoes and that was it.

It was a big hit with all the sandwiches we made. The potato salad was spicy, creamy, sweet and savory- most of all it was yummy…
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