Moroccan Braised Brinjal and Chickpea Salad

I LOVE EXPERIMENTING!

On Sunday evening we smoked some chicken on the Weber Kettle Braai. 

Needing a vegetable dish to compliment the chicken I looked for something to do with chickpeas,

Something Mediterranean that would be a bit spicy and warm for a winter evening.

I came up with this idea with finger brinjals (small long aubergines) and carrots with Moroccan spicing,

Not too hot but with a bit of a kick...

It's a meal on it's own, but if you prefer a vegetarian option,

 then use vegetable stock instead of the chicken stock I have used.

Normally I'd have used apricots, which are commonly used in Moroccan cuisine, but didn't have any, so I left them out and just used raisins. 

It was absolutely delicious and definitely worth repeating!

Give it a try.

As for the chicken, we will have to make that again also;

when we do I'll take photos and share the way to do it with you all.

Ingredients:

30ml olive oil

2 onions, each cut into 8 wedges

6-8 finger brinjals, cut in 1cm thick slices

5ml ground cumin

2.5ml turmeric

2.5ml cayenne pepper or ground chillies

7.5ml ground coriander

5ml ground cinnamon

300ml chicken stock (or vegetable stock for a vegetarian option) 

2 carrots, sliced

125ml raisins

125ml dried apricots, chunky chopped (optional)

60ml flaked almonds

I x 410g can chickpeas, drained

60ml couscous

60ml chopped fresh coriander

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the onions and brinjals and fry over a medium heat for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onions are softened and the brinjal has taken a bit of colour. 

Add the spices and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Stir in the stock, carrots, apricots (if using), raisins and almonds and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Wash and drain the chickpeas and add them to the vegetables, stirring to mix the chickpeas through. Cover and return the pot to the boil and allow to cook for about 20 minutes. Sprinkle in the couscous, fold it in and continue to simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Season with salt and pepper and fold in half the coriander. Serve sprinkled with the remainder of the coriander.

Bedouin Chicken

Although this is done with barley, you could use another grain of choice such as bulgar wheat, quinoa, orzo, brown rice, millet or couscous. 

Ingredients:

5ml olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

60g cooked barley

1 small apple, diced

4 fresh dates, stoned and chopped

30g raisins, well washed

5ml chopped almonds

2.5ml allspice (ground cumin)

2.5ml cinnamon

1 x 1.4kg chicken

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Juice of half a lemon

1 lemon, cut into 8 pieces length ways

Method:

Heat the oil and fry onions until just transparent. Put the onions, together with all the other stuffing ingredients and spices, in a mixing bowl and combine. Stuff the chicken with the mixture and tie it up. Transfer the chicken to a roasting pan, season liberally with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Heat the oven to 220˚C. Put the chicken into the oven and cook for 10 minutes, the turn the oven down to 190 ˚C and continue to roast for 1 ¼ hours or until the juices run clear from the thigh when you pierce it with a skewer.

Serve with a hot salad of brinjal, courgette, apple, sweet potato and onion roasted with garlic and cumin seeds, garnished with sesame seeds or almonds, or with a green or rocket salad.

Mint and Almond Tabbouleh

This salad is also great made with couscous or orzo (rice pasta)

 instead of crushed wheat.

Ingredients:

250ml crushed wheat

3 spring onions

60ml fresh parsley, chopped

30ml fresh mint, chopped

2 hardboiled eggs

60ml toasted slivered almonds

30 ml snipped chives

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Dressing:

60ml olive oil

60ml lemon juice

Method:

Place the crushed wheat in a bowl, cover with boiling water and set aside to soak for 15 minutes. Drain well, dry in a tea towel or kitchen paper and tip into a serving bowl.

Trim and finely slice the spring onions and mix into the crushed wheat with the parsley and mint.

Shell the eggs, chop finely and add to the salad with the almonds.

To make the dressing, mix together the olive oil and the lemon juice, pour over the salad and toss to mix thoroughly.

Season with salt and pepper and garnish with chives.

Chicken and Avocado Salad

Ingredients:

2 skinless, cooked chicken breasts

1 ripe avocado

45ml lemon juice

2 spring onions

Salad greens

60ml toasted slivered almonds

Dressing:

30ml mayonnaise

30ml sour cream

15ml chilli sauce

10ml runny honey

Method:

Cut the chicken into strips. Peel and stone the avocado, cut into wedges and brush with lemon juice. Trim and finely slice the spring onions on the diagonal.

To make the dressing, mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, chilli sauce and runny honey and toss with the chicken.

Serve the avocado over salad greens topped with the chicken and garnished with the slivered almonds.