posted by Plant-Based Cooking. Copyright 2011-2015 by Diane Smith and plantbasedcooking.com. All Rights Reserved.

Moroccan Stew With Kale

You would have to be living in a vacuum to have missed out on the popularity of kale over the last several years. This stew from Diane Cook takes advantage of kale but also a spice melange from Morocco. Listed separately, the spice mixture makes the ingredient list seem large, so I’ve lumped these together. The rest of the ingredients went together very quickly making this stew a candidate for a busy week night.  This recipe serves 6; as we are a two-person household, I cut everything in half and still had plenty of leftovers.

Ingredients:

• Spice Mixture: 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ground tumeric, 1/2 tsp curry powder 
• 1 tsp salt (I generally cook without adding salt, saving that addition for a final adjustment)
• 1 sweet onion chopped
• 2 cups rough chopped kale
• 1 qt vegetable stock (more if you want this to be more soup-like)
• 1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 TBSP honey
• 4 large carrots, chopped
• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 3 large potatoes (used Yukon gold), peeled and diced
• 1 15-oz. garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup dried lentils, rinsed
• 1 tsp ground black pepper to taste
• 1 TBSP cornstarch (optional)
• 1 TBSP water (optional)

Method

1.  Cook onions on medium high heat in a little water or broth until soft and just beginning to brown (5 to 10 minutes). Stir in the spices and cook until they are fragrant.
2. Pour the vegetable broth into the pot. Stir in the tomatoes, honey, carrots, sweet potatoes, potatoes, garbanzo beans, apricots, and lentils. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low.
3. Stir in the shredded kale.
4. Simmer stew for 30 minutes until the vegetables and lentils are cooked and tender. Season with salt and black pepper. If desired, combine cornstarch and water and stir into stew. Simmer until stew has thickened, about 5 minutes