Moroccan Style Vegetable Stew w/ Chickpeas & Dates

With dishes like this, I swear, I could almost become a vegetarian (but I like anchovies too much).

I recently received a box of Fruit Bliss dried fruits to try: Turkish Apricots; Agen Plums from France; along with dried Figs & Dates. Someone had my number, because I eat dried fruit almost everyday.

All the fruit is organic, no GMO's, no preservatives or additives and they were all delicious.

I used the dates in my famous date nut bread, and the rest of them I decided to use to make this dish inpsired by The First Mess, my new favorite vegetarian blog.

This is so delicious and hearty, and served over couscous, this makes for a healthy, filling meal and we didn't miss the meat.

Just a note: I did not add the yellow bell pepper as the original recipe states, only because I didn't have one, and I only used 1 can of chickpeas, and 1 can of tomatoes. This still made enough for 4 people as a main dish.

Moroccan Style Vegetable Stew w/ Chickpeas & Dates: (adapted from The First Mess)

1 onion, diced
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp dried coriander
shake of chili flakes
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium sized sweet potato, peeled and diced into 1/2" pieces
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
6 dates, chopped
14 oz. can of fire roasted tomatoes
3 cups of vegetable or chicken stock
14 oz. can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed

Couscous and fresh cilantro for serving.

In a large deep skillet, heat some olive oil and cook the onion with the spices for 5 minutes until soft.
Add in the garlic and cook another minute until fragrant.

Add in the sweet potato, carrots and dates and coat with the dried spices and oil.

Add the tomatoes and stock and bring to a boil.

Turn down the heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes until the potatoes and carrots are cooked thru (original recipe only calls for 15 minutes, and that was not enough time for my veggies to cook). I added in the chickpeas after 10 minutes of cooking, since they are already cooked, I didn't want them to become mushy.

Serve over cooked couscous and garnish with fresh cilantro.

LOVED!