Moroccan Sweet Potatoes and Vegetables

Photo: flickr user dichohecho

Ingredients

4 lrg onions sliced thickly

2 tablespoons oil

cup chickpeas dried

inch soaked water overnight

1 pound acorn squash peeled

OR pumpkin OR carrots peeled

1 sweet potato up to 2

OR yam

1/4 cup raisins up to ⅓ cup

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.

2. Saute the onions in the oil until golden.

3. Place the chick peas and onions in the bottom of a greased oblong casserole. Cover with the remaining vegetables. Sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon, and add a little oil if desired.

4. Bake for 25 minutes or until well browned. Serve with couscous or a simple roast.

Serves 10-12. Parve.

Each of 12 servings contains:2.5 g fibre

NOTES: Hi. I did make the recipe, and my results were mixed. The flavours were good, but the recipe itself gave me a few problems. Actually, I made roughly half the recipe, since I didn't need 12 servings, and since this was an experiment.

I decided to save time by using canned chickpeas instead of soaking them to cook from scratch. I used a 19-fl-ounce can, even though this was probably much more than needed. I like recooked chickpeas, so the more the better in my opinion.

One of the comments I had made in the recipe notes was that there was no indication given in the recipe about cutting any vegetable other than the onion. I assumed that the carrots should be sliced, and that the sweet potatoes should be cut into fairly small chunks - to speed their cooking.

I noticed as I mixed the ingredients that the only liquid to be added was oil, and that was optional. I just sprayed a bit of canola oil on top of the mixture after sprinkling on the cinnamon. The carrots were still rock hard after the sweet potato chunks softened, so, at my husband's suggestion, I poured in some water and covered the baking dish with foil, then continued heating this for at least 15 or 20 minutes until the carrots were finally fork-tender. The next time I make this, I will steam the carrots a few minutes before mixing them with the sweet potatoes and

On another note, I decided to eliminate the sugar entirely, since it's not intended to be part of my diet. My family agreed with me that the mixture was sweet enough without added sugar - but would sugar have helped cook the carrots faster?

Also, I substituted pitted prunes for the raisins, since I tend to associate prunes with tsimmes.

If you want to have a nice roasted flavor, it is probably better not to cover the pan. If you do cover, you will probably get the more traditional tzimmes flavor that is boiled or steamed. I've attached my recipe for roasted tzimmes - I like both the boiled/steamed version and the roasted, but without any meat in it, the roasted has more flavor. It's not surprising that the carrots were very hard - they need about 45 minutes to cook through when using an open pan. Leaving out the sugar should have made the vegetables softer - sugar tends to toughen cellulose - that's why it's b

Sorry I didn't send it before Rosh Hashanah, but I actually made it for the first time this holiday (usually my mother-in-law makes one with brisket in it_) By the way, I would not cut out the oil if you are trying to have that roasted flavor. If you look at the fat content per serving it is very low, and the oil really aids in the browning process and keeps things from getting dry. The soy sauce is added to give the tzimmes a

Serving Ideas : Serve on Rosh Hashanah

NOTES : The recipe does not indicate whether the vegetables, other than the onions, are to be cut in any way before cooking.

I think I will include this, using carrots since the acorn squash isn't yet available at the farmers' market where we usually buy produce. I'll bake this while the honey-lemon-chicken (high-fat)

Is roasting in the oven, at whatever temperature the chicken requires.