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Home » Home home_recipes » Vegan couscous and dates dinner recipe

Vegan couscous and dates dinner recipe

by Allison on January 10, 2012 in Home, home_recipes · 25 comments

For a variety of reasons, I’ve recently gone vegan.  Gluten free too.  It’s been a long time coming and so far I feel amazing, even though I’m still trying to figure out what on earth I can eat.

vegan couscous and date dinner recipe

Up to this point its been a lot of protein bars and fruit shakes, but I’m having fun trying new vegan dishes here and there.  Wait until you try this new recipe I made over the weekend: vegan couscous chickpea and date tagine; even my picky-pants kids loved it.  You’ll die, you’ll swoon, your mouth will explode with happy, you’ll become world famous for your vegan couscous and dates.

It’s insane.

vegan dinner

I’d never heard the word ‘tagine’ before I made this recipe, but tagine {pronounced: ta-zheen} basically means a cuisine made in a special earthenware pot, typically in Northern Africa; Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya.  It’s a dish with a mixture of sweet and spicy served over couscous.

My mouth is watering just thinking about it. 

Here’s the skinny:

Chickpea and Date Tagine with Couscous

  • 1 T olive oil
  • 1 large onion diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • can crushed tomatoes
  • 3 cups cooked chickpeas
  • 1 cup couscous
  • 1 cup pitted dates, diced
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice

vegan couscous dates dinner recipe

Here’s how to make it:

Heat oil over medium heat in a large skillet.  Add diced onions and stir constantly until browned.  Stir in grated garlic, cumin, ginger and cinnamon, sauté for about one minute.  In a separate pot cook the couscous; I like to add a little more flavor to the couscous by cooking it with vegetable broth, it really makes the flavor pop.

Meanwhile back in the sauté pan, add the tomatoes, chickpeas, minced garlic and about 1/4 cup of water.  Let all the flavors simmer and bubble together about 10 minutes or so, stirring it around every now and again.

It’s the now and again that really counts.

Once that’s all mixed together add the lemon juice and diced dates and serve over warm couscous.

vegan couscous and date dinner recipe

Vegan ta-zheen, ready to eat.

{ 25 comments }

Home » Home home_recipes » Homemade holiday pot simmer recipe

Homemade holiday pot simmer recipe

by Allison on December 21, 2011 in Home, home_recipes · 6 comments

My mother has been making her own homemade holiday pot simmer recipe since the beginning of time.  At least since the beginning of my time.

Same diff.

Do you even know what that means?  Homemade holiday pot simmer recipe?

home made holiday pot simmer recipe

It’s basically a bunch of yummy smells thrown into a pot, filled with water, and left to simmer on a back burner on the stove while you wrap presents or hang out in your house.

I usually keep it pretty basic, using whatever I have in the kitchen around the holidays: orange peels, lemon peels, whatever holiday citrus I’m using, mixed with spices.  Sometimes I use whole cinnamon sticks I buy at the dollar store {never use the good stuff for a pot simmer, it’s a total waste}, some nutmeg, cloves, and whatever else I feel like adding.  Ginger is a yummy smell to add to the mix, but it’s really whatever you please.  Here’s my recipe:

homemade holiday pot simmer recipe

  • 1 or 2 orange peels
  • 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon or
  • 3-4 cinnamon sticks
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon cloves

The whole point is to make you happy and to make your house smell like the holidays, whatever that means to you.

Every few days when the orange peels start to get soggy, I run the old ones through the kitchen sink garbage disposal to get rid of them.  That’s an extra bonus for a yummy smelling house, right there.  Then I peel another orange or lemon and throw the peels into the pot.  I add new ground cinnamon about every 5 days or so, and the whole thing lasts through the holidays.

A little head’s up for you though, don’t use your good pots.  That might cause a little, uh how you say, marital friction.  Go to the dollar store and pick up a tiny little pot to use specifically for this purpose.  My friend, one who likes to shop at the dollar store, told me about the dollar store pot trick.

It’s not me heavens no, I would never have spousal friction, no way no how.

*ahem*

Happy holidays!

{ 6 comments }

Home » Home home_recipes » The best pie crust you’ve ever made

The best pie crust you’ve ever made

by Allison on November 23, 2011 in Home, home_recipes · 11 comments

I don’t want you to get all freaked out about making your own pie crust.  You can do this.  We can totally do this, together.  In fact, you’re going to be super surprised at your mad pie skillz after making a crust or two.

This is seriously the best pie crust you’ll ever make.  Flaky, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth.  Whip this out as a party trick at any old holiday get-together and you’ll be the talk of the town.

Too many clichés in one paragraph? 

Probably.

how to make a pie crust

Ingredients for Pie Crust

  • pie crust
  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 3/4 cup shortening
  • 2 tsp salt

Here’s how it all goes down:

Cut ingredients with pastry blender until coarse.

the best pie crust

best pie crust

mix 1/2 cup ice water, 1 TBL white vinegar, 1 egg

the best pie crust you've ever made

drizzle ice mixture into flour until dough comes together but isn’t sticky or dry.  roll out.

home made pie crust

making a pie crust

make the best pie crust

makes 2 pie crusts or 1 complete pie with a top.

I never said I was Martha, but my pies don’t end up looking completely terrible either.

best pie crust you've ever made

Bake at 475 for 5-8 min for just the crust, or follow baking directions for

Pie!  It’s time for pie!

p.s. {I never make tops for my pies.  Well sometimes I do, but not very often.  If I do make a top, I use the leftover pieces to make a pretty crisscross design.  Combine the leftover dough, roll it out, and using a pastry cutter or a plain kitchen knife cut long strips of dough.  Lay them in a pattern across the top of the filling, pinching them off at the edge of the crust.}

Have fun!

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

cookies + ice cream in a dish

by Allison November 8, 2011Home
cookies in a dish

Regular chocolate chip cookies are enough to make my mouth water.  Chocolate-chip-raisin-oatmeal-cookies?  Holy sister, pass me a spoon. I’d never eaten cookies in a dish until I went out for dessert one late night in Laguna Beach with my girlfriends Carrie, Kelly, and Julie.  I don’t even remember where we ate, but I do know [...]

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oven cooked pumpkin seeds

by Allison October 17, 2011Home
how to pumpkin seeds

Do you have any special Fall traditions at your house?  We’ve sort of fallen into a few, by accident; the accidental traditions always end up being the crowd favorites.  One of our favorite traditions is making oven roasted pumpkin seeds after we carve our pumpkins. Have you ever eaten pumpkin seeds?  Oh man, they’re insane.  [...]

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Crock Pot giveaway

by Allison September 23, 2011Home
crock pot dinners

What’s better than a Crock Pot giveaway to celebrate the start of Fall?  A day off work? Maybe. But I don’t have an in with your boss, so I’ll help you with the next best thing. A crock pot.  Seriously, is there anything better than coming home from work to the smell of dinner already [...]

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how to preserve sweet summer corn

by Allison August 29, 2011Home
corn on the cob

If you’re anything like me I live for August, just so I can taste the once-a-year, out of this world flavor of corn on the cob. There’s really nothing else like it. My BFF Martha Stewart has a great little trick for preserving the fresh taste of corn on the cob, well into the cold [...]

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fun summer drink recipe

by Allison June 15, 2011Home
summer drink recipe

– This is a re-posting of an article from last Summer’s archives. I hope you have as much fun reading this post as I did writing it. – This fun summer drink recipe is perfect for the sweltering hot dog-days of summer. I originally found the recipe in Real Simple magazine and whipped it up [...]

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what to wear to a barbecue

by Allison May 26, 2011Home
what to wear to a barbecue

A few weeks ago after the really fun 4th of July parade, I walked down the street to where Justin Hackworth was hosting his 30 Strangers open house. I wanted to show my sister my 30 Strangers portrait, and I got to see Justin {which is always a bonus} and his wife Amy. She’s my [...]

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