Sweet and Spicy Vegetable Tagine

So for possibly the first time ever, I found myself asking Mr B if we could just stay home this weekend. We had absolutely no plans which in itself is rare enough (and normally makes me feel like I've either forgotten something or like we should make the most of it by making plans to go out and do something....and yes I do know that defeats the purpose of having no plans).

Anyway, our last few weekends have been so booked solid that I was actually really looking forward to just pottering around at home and doing all those things I never seem to have time for like painting my nails and trawling through hours of blogs and online shopping.....and then there's the fun stuff like vacuuming and dusting and washing which I always seem to have time for but avoid like the plague!

Initially Mr B was fairly shocked by this extreme change in behaviour but quickly put it down to pregnancy weirdness and made a bee line for the shed.

Despite my intentions, it's now late on Saturday afternoon, Mr B has just come inside for lunch and told me how productive he has been and asked how I've been going...

'Have you done a blog?'    Um, no....

'Did you get to look up that website you mentioned?'     Nope.....

'Did you do any of the baking you wanted to do?'     Um yeah well actually no......

'So um....what have you been doing?'

This is where I had an issue because to be honest I'm not entirely sure where the time has gone.....

Do you ever notice that when you start looking through blogs and websites and things that you seem to enter some sort of black hole and all of a sudden it's 5 hours later and you have no memory of how you got here or what you did? No? Oh....well....me either....

So before my day entirely disappears, I should do what I originally switched on the laptop to do roughly 6 hours ago which was to tell you about this Sweet and Spicy Vegetable Tagine.

I love all things moroccan flavoured and what I really love about this tagine is that it is hearty and simple and full of flavour, plus you can sit down and have a huge bowl for lunch or dinner without ending up with that heavy feeling often associated with some of our favourite winter comfort foods!

Sweet and Spicy Vegetable Tagine - Serves 4

1 onion, diced
1 heaped tbspn crushed ginger
1 heaped tbspn crushed garlic
2 tspns cumin
1 tspn paprika
500g pumpkin, chopped into 2-3cm cubes
400 sweet potato, chopped into 2-3cm cubes
250g parsnip, chopped
350g carrot, chopped
3 x small zucchini, diced
2 cups vegetable stock
400g tin of diced tomatoes
2 tbspns honey
1.5 cups dry couscous
Juice from 1/2 lemon

Heat 2 tbspns oil in a large casserole dish. Add the onion and cook for 2-3 mins or until softened. Add the garlic, ginger and spices and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant.

Add the pumpkin, sweet potato, parsnip, carrot, stock, diced tomatoes and honey to the pot and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 mins. Add the zucchini and simmer for a further 20 mins or until vegetables are tender. Season to taste.

Place the couscous in a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Place a tea towel over the bowl and allow to sit for 5 mins. Fluff the couscous with a fork and squeeze over the lemon juice. Serve the couscous with the tagine and curl up and enjoy!

Enjoy!

Mrs B xx