Tunisian Vegetable Stew

At the farmers' market today, I saw a gorgeous organic purple cabbage I couldn't afford to pass up. It was right next to the beautiful organic green, purple, and yellow cauliflowers that sat behind a sign that said, "Color made by nature!" I couldn't afford to pass up one of those green cauliflowers either. When I got home, I found out that I already had a lovely green head of cabbage in the fridge! Uh oh! I try to prepare a lot of meals for the week on the weekend anyway, so I decided to make a stew with the green cabbage and leave the purple for later in the week. I pulled out my new Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home cookbook, which is entirely vegetarian. I ran across this recipe for a Tunisian Vegetable Stew and thought it sounded interesting.

It pulled together really quickly. I've made similar dishes before and haven't been entirely crazy about them. I don't know if it's the combination of spices, or the tomatoes and chickpeas, but I actually went into this one prepared NOT to like it. Weird, I know. But oh my goodness, this is a delicious stew! The balance of flavors are spot on!!! The lemon juice added at the end provides the perfect hit of acid, the currants in the stew provide a lovely sweet component, the feta adds a note of creaminess, and the toasted almonds give a crunch. I'm bowled over by this stew, and I'm so glad I found it. I hope you'll like it, too! If you're not a fan of feta, you could add goat cheese or any other creamy, crumbly mild cheese.

Tunisian Vegetable Stew (via the Moosewood Restaurant)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced onions
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups thinly sliced cabbage
salt
1 large green bell pepper, julienned
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1 (28 ounce) can Tomatoes, chopped and undrained
1 (16 ounce) can chickpeas, drained
1/3 cup currants or 1/3 cup raisins
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
feta cheese (garnish)
toasted slivered almonds (garnish)

1. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and saute the onions for 5 minutes or until softened.

2. Add the cabbage and salt to taste; saute at least 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add in the bell pepper, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, and cayenne; stir and saute for 1 minute or so.

4. Add in the tomatoes, chick peas, and currants/raisins; stir to combine and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes or until vegetables are just tender.

5. Add lemon juice and salt to taste; stir.

6. Ladle hot soup into individual soup bowls; sprinkle feta cheese and toasted almonds on top.