Moroccan style vegetable stew (p.246)

So people told me that the Moroccan-style vegetable stew (p.246) was particularly good, so I was looking forward to trying it. This is a fairly complex recipe with a TON of ingredients. I think it would be best to make if you had a garden--which we don't. In fact, I have a black thumb--I kill plants that my mom says are impossible to kill, which is depressing.

I also knew that I just had to make myself happy with this one--my favorite tester hates cardamom and chickpeas, so he was extremely unlikely to like this dish.

The first step of the recipe is to make your spice mix--cumin, chili, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Frankly, this mixture was scaring me a little--it smelled a lot more like I was making a pie than a stew. And I don't like cinnamon. I know--everybody likes cinnamon. But I never have...




The mixture was then mixed over a butternut squash and one potato. It didn't seem like it was going to be enough spice, but they are pretty potent spices.






Carrots, onions, raisins, and garlic were then mixed in. The mix is getting stranger and stranger...plus chicken broth (veg broth would make it vegetarian)...but it doesn't seem like there will be enough broth to cook all of these veggies!





You then have to place foil over the surface and cover it with a lid. I thought this was a bizarre step. And surprisingly difficult. The pot kept wanting to burn me.




You then mix in zucchini, chickpeas, olives, salt, and pepper. I love zucchini and olives...but with cinnamon?? And nutmeg??




I made some couscous. It was surprisingly good! Strange...extremely strange...but good! Is this what northern African cuisine is like? Anyone know? This recipe kept really well--in fact, it was even better the next day.