downright intolerable. But the worst part (for me) is the selection of
food, or should I say, the lack thereof. Endless choices of burgers,
Chinese buffets and everything deep-fried, leaves me feeling a bit
despondent. Can I be the only person in downtown Toronto yearning for a
food fair upgrade? But today’s experience would be different. There is a
new kind of food fair in town, a fresh take on fast-food in the Toronto
Eaton Centre. I couldn’t be more excited!
On the escalator ride down to the new food fair, I first notice a
McDonald’s.... Feeling a little deflated, I picked up my chin anyway, and
continued toward the heart of the food fair. My eyes started to open wider
as I saw names like Urban Herbivore (a popular, healthy and very tasty vegan
restaurant), Big Smoke Burger (which offers yummy, organic, gourmet burgers
topped with freshly made guacamole, rosemary mayo and blue cheese), Amaya
Express (Amaya’s flagship restaurant, according to top food critics, is the
best Indian restaurant in town, and now they had a fast-food installment).
Cue angels singing in my head.
Now, the only decision to make is which place to try first. My husband and
I zeroed in on Urban Herbivore. We perused the menu and he selected a
Moroccan stew served on your choice of brown rice, noodles or quinoa. I was
feeling particularly virtuous that day, and chose a freshly-juiced juice.
The juice was delicious, but the stand-out, by far, was the Moroccan stew.
It was spiced perfectly, with excellent balance—not too spicy and not too
sweet. As I took another bite, I decided that I too wanted something that
healthy and tasty coming from my kitchen.
I found the recipe below by fluke. I was looking up how-to-cook quinoa
recipes and this version of Carrot Butternut Squash Moroccan Stew (served
with quinoa) came up in my search on www.epicurious.com. Because my first
attempt at making a Moroccan-spiced vegetable stew was disappointing (the
flavours were flat and the stew tasted lifeless); I was now on a quest for
an impressive version that would satiate my taste buds, just like the Urban
Herbivore stew.
I made the below recipe last night, with a few of my own additions and
changes. The stew was amazing; full of deep, rich flavour from the blend of
spices (one of my additions was to toast and grind whole cumin and coriander
and heat together with the other spices). I also cooked the onions until
they almost “melted”, which added a nice sweetness along with the carrots
and butternut squash. The cayenne added a nice hit of heat, so I added
raisins to mellow out the spiciness—and it worked perfectly.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 teaspoons Hungarian sweet paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground coriander, toasted and ground
1 teaspoon ground cumin, toasted and ground
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Pinch of saffron
1 cup water
1 796 ml can of whole tomatoes, drained of liquid and crushed lightly by
hand
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 cups 1-inch cubes peeled butternut squash (from 1 1/2-pound squash)
2 cups 1-inch cubes peeled carrots
1/2 cup golden raisins
Parsley and toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) for garnish
Preparation:
Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; sauté until soft,
stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add garlic; stir 1 minute. Mix in paprika
and next 8 ingredients warm until fragrant. Add 1 cup water, tomatoes, and
lemon juice. Bring to boil. Add squash and carrots. Cover and simmer over
medium-low heat until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally, about 20
minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover
and chill.) Rewarm stew. Spoon quinoa onto platter, forming well in center.
Spoon stew into well. Sprinkle with a big handful of chopped parsley and toasted pepitas.
