Recipes for chicken tagine, vegetable tagine; Moroccan carrot salad; eggplant salad

Chicken Tagine Serves: 4

6 onions, peeled and julienned

1/2 cup olive oil

1-1/2 tablespoons powdered ginger

1 teaspoon saffron (may substitute turmeric, but flavor will be changed)

Salt and pepper to taste   1/2 cup chicken broth

4 Cornish hens

1 pickled lemon (sometimes called preserved lemon)

 1 cup pitted black olives

One bunch fresh cilantro, tied with string

Place the onions in a heavy-bottomed pot or cast-iron tagine with 1/4 cup olive oil. Add ginger, 1/2 teaspoon saffron, salt, pepper and chicken broth. Rub the hens with remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and the remaining saffron and add to the pot.

Cook over medium flame for approximately 40 minutes. Add the pickled lemon (whole or halved), olives and tied bunch of cilantro.

Make sure the chicken is nearly finished cooking, then remove from the pot and place it in an oven-safe dish in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, reduce onion mixture to a thick sauce over medium heat if necessary. Remove cilantro. Remove lemon and julienne. To serve hens, top with the caramelized onion and olive mixture. Sprinkle with julienned lemon.

Serve with rice and vegetables if desired.

Note if using a clay tagine, use with a heat diffuser over a gas flame, not on an electric burner. Vegans may make sauce as directed using vegetable broth in place of chicken broth, adding all of the saffron at once, omitting

Cornish hens and oven baking, and adding soy chicken to sauce to heat through before serving. Source: Omar Boukhriss, Omar's Carriage House and Voila!, Norfolk

Vegetable Tagine

Serves: 6-8

6 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 cinnamon stick

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

 3 medium cloves garlic, thinly sliced

 3 medium carrots, peeled, and cut into medium dice; or

 1 acorn squash, skin on, seeds and pulp removed, and sliced slightly more than 1/4-inch thick

 1 can diced tomatoes in juice 1 cup vegetable broth Pinch saffron threads (optional)

1 medium head cauliflower, separated into florets

1-1/4 cup green olives, such as picholine, pitted and halved

2 cans cooked chickpeas, drained 1 preserved lemon, seeds removed, finely chopped (available at gourmet shops) 1/2 cup dried currants or golden raisins

Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot with a tight-fitting lid (including a cast-iron tagine) over medium heat. When oil shimmers, add onion, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

Stir in cumin and cinnamon stick, and toast until aromatic, about 1 minute; add ginger and garlic, and cook until just softened, about 1 minute more. Add carrots or squash, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and cook until slightly tender, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and their juice, vegetable broth and optional saffron, and stir to combine.

Bring mixture to a simmer and cook, covered, until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 7 minutes. Add cauliflower, olives, chickpeas, preserved lemon, and currants or golden raisins, and cook, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is just tender, about 10 minutes more.

Taste tagine and adjust seasoning if necessary. Note You may cook this dish in a clay tagine if you use a gas burner and a heat diffuser. Alternately, you may merely serve the dish in a tagine.

Source: Adapted from Ray Lee, www.chow.com

Moroccan Carrot Salad

Serves: 6-8

6 to 8 medium carrots, peeled and sliced in 1/4-inch rounds (see note) 2 cups water 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 3 teaspoons ground cumin 1 tablespoon honey (see note) 3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice 1/3 cup olive oil 1 cup mint leaves, washed and chopped  Cook carrots in 2 cups water covered until just tender (approximately 6 minutes).

In a medium sized bowl, mix cayenne, cumin, honey and lemon juice. Whisk in olive oil.

Drain excess water (if any) from carrots and toss warm carrots with vinaigrette. Add mint leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note For testing purposes, I substituted 3 cups of baby carrots. Agave nectar may be substituted for honey. Source: Annie O'Hare, www.foodnetwork.com ]

Eggplant Salad: Shlada de-al Bedenjan

 Serves: 8-12 4 eggplants

1 teaspoon salt, plus more as needed

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 large tomatoes, peeled and grated 1/2 onion, finely chopped 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

4 flat-leaf parsley sprigs, finely chopped 4 cilantro sprigs, finely chopped

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 lemons, quartered Cut the eggplant into 2-inch cubes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the eggplant and cook until tender. Drain. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the tomato, onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes. Add eggplant, paprika, cumin, black pepper, parsley and cilantro and cook gently, mashing the ingredients occasionally, until any excess liquid cooks off, about 10 to 12 minutes.

Add the vinegar, mix well and let cool. Transfer the eggplant salad to a platter and garnish with the lemon quarters. Note You will likely need two pots of water to cook all of the eggplant.

Source: Rafih Benjelloun,  Imperial Fez Restaurant, Atlanta, as seen on "Sara's Secrets," www.foodnetwork.com