Spiced Vegetable Medley With Almonds and Raisins

Amarante

Wed, Oct 09 2024, 7:37 pm

The spices and presentation really elevated this above standard roasted vegetables. It is made ahead of time wasn't really much of a potchke. Sauteing the onions separately with the aromatics and then combining to bake

Spiced Vegetable Medley With Almonds and Raisins

Source: Joan Nathan

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

This delightful Moroccan dish, often served on Rosh Hashana, incorporates an abundance of traditional harvest foods and is warm with spices (cinnamon, cardamom and coriander). This version is served in Marina Pinto Kaufman's family, from Tangiers and Tetouen as well as Martha’s Vineyard, where she now lives. Traditionally served with chicken couscous, it is somewhat like the Moroccan version of tsimmes, an Eastern European dish incorporating both carrots and sweet potatoes. In Ms. Kaufman's recipe, the vegetables are scooped into long piles, giving children — often picky when it comes to such delicacies — the choice of what they like, while adults can stir them all together to enjoy the spices and the caramelized onions. Great for entertaining, this dish can be prepared the day before serving, so all you have to do is heat it, but you can roll straight through the recipe, enjoying it the day you prepare it, with wonderful results.

INGREDIENTS

6 tablespoons olive oil
1 large zucchini
4 large carrots
½ medium (2½-pound) butternut squash (or other winter squash), seeded
1 large sweet potato, peeled
½ cup raisins
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon ground coriander
Salt
½ cup blanched slivered or chopped almonds
2 large onions (about 2 pounds)
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained

PREPARATION

The day before serving, heat the oven to 400 degrees and brush a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. While the oven is heating, trim the zucchini and peel the carrots, leaving them whole. Cut the squash and sweet potato in half lengthwise. Put the vegetables in the baking pan and roast for about 30 minutes, or until the zucchini and carrots can be easily sliced but are still a bit taut. Roast the sweet potatoes and squash for a little longer if needed, until they are soft but still meet some resistance when pierced with a knife.

While the vegetables are cooking, plump the raisins in ½ cup warm water.

Stir together the sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, coriander and 1 teaspoon salt in a small bowl.

Heat a small skillet over medium, add 1 tablespoon of oil, then add the almonds and cook, stirring frequently, until slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Drain on a paper towel, then set aside until the next day.

Cut the onions in half, thinly slice them and then cut those slices into half-inch lengths. Add the remaining ¼ cup of olive oil along with ¼ cup water to the skillet. Cook the onions over medium-high heat, stirring often, until beginning to brown, about 10 minutes, then reduce heat to medium-low and cook until caramelized and deeply browned, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

When the vegetables in the oven are almost cooked, remove from the oven and cool slightly. Cut each vegetable into half-inch pieces, then pile them up in 6 rows along the short width of the baking pan, starting with the carrots, then the chickpeas, sweet potatoes, zucchini, squash and finally the onions. Scatter the raisins with their water on top. You can proceed to baking the dish, or cover and set aside in the refrigerator overnight, if preparing in advance.

An hour before serving, heat the oven to 375 degrees. (Add a little water or oil as needed to the vegetables if they’ve chilled overnight.) Sprinkle with the spice blend, scatter the almonds on top and bake for about 30 minutes, until warm. Serve with a roast or couscous.