Morrocan Vegetable Stew

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 2 medium onions , chopped
• 1/2 pound baby carrots , salt to taste
• 1 tsps cumin seeds
• 1 tsps mustard seeds
• 6 medium tomatoes , slightly ripe
• 4 large bell peppers (red or yellow)
• 1 cinnamon , stick
• 1.5 cups chickpeas , cooked (15-ounce can rinsed and drained)
• 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice (add/subtract to taste)
• Ground black pepper

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 375. Place foil lining on baking trays generously brushed with olive oil. Scatter onions and carrots onto one tray drizzled with extra oil. Sprinkled with salt, mustard seeds and cumin. Put one garlic bulb on one side.
2. Arrange bell peppers and cored tomatoes on a second tray.
3. Layer the first tray on the lower rack and the second tray on the upper rack of the oven. Bake the carrots and onions for about 30-35 minutes, stir occasionally, to soften the carrots. Remove the tray from the oven and set aside.
4. While baking the tomatoes and peppers (approx. 45 minutes), flip the peppers every 10 minutes for even blistering. Place the tomatoes and peppers in a bowl and add the cinnamon stick. Cover it with foil or a lid and let it sit for 30mins.
5. Take the peppers out, leaving its liquid remains, seeds, stem, and skin. Cut them into strips and place back in the bowl.
6. Lift tomatoes and peel the skin. Chop the pulp and then add it back to the bowl. Take the cinnamon stick out and discard.
7. When cool enough, separate all garlic cloves, and juice the pulp into the bowl of peppers and tomatoes. Add the onions, carrots, cumin, and mustard seeds, and stir in.
8. Suit to taste by adjusting salt and lemon juice, and add black pepper. Mix well.
9. Cover the bowl, and heat the stew in an oven with a temperature of 176°C for about 30 minutes, or microwave for 5-10 minutes.
10. Serve hot with quinoa or couscous (especially if on low carb diet)