Tagines

I was going through the pantry and noticed that we were out of a lot of different kinds of beans, but we had several cans of chick peas. I thought, what could I make with chick peas? (or garbanzo beans, whatever your nomenclature preference)

I thought about the chicken pieces in the freezer and thought, aha, a tagine! I was first introduced to tagines at a restaurant in Portland. I was on a very bad date, but that's another story. The food was good, and that's what I remember, and I specifically remember chicken and garbanzoes and some other stuff, and interesting spices.

The combination of foods I remember did not involve any of the ingredients Chloe can't eat, so it sounded perfect.

I skinned the chicken legs and browned them in vegetable oil. I added about 3 cups of water, 3 yams cubed to about 1 inch, two cans of drained and rinsed chick peas, and two handfuls of raisins. I seasoned lightly with pepper, sea salt, and allspice.

While we were at supper Daniel said to me that this reminded him of the kind of meals he ate in Tanzania--a bowl of brothy rice and beans with some chicken pieces. It started me thinking about all the possible variations.

The main elements of the theme: smallish meat pieces, and a variety of additional and complementary ingredients.

The results from googling "tagine" yielded information that the traditional Moroccan tagines are made with lamb, olives, and lemon, and that traditionally the dishes include citrus fruits and almonds. Many of the dishes are served with flatbread and olives, and of course, we couldn't serve flatbread to Chloe (or almonds), but we could serve the tagines with rice to soak up the broth, and fruit such as grapes to accompany it.

So we thought of all the Chloe-safe chicken variations we could:
potatoes, celery, carrots, Italian herbs
corn on the cob pieces, black beans, red pepper, southwest spices
lemon, rice, olives
potatoes, tomatoes, garbanzo beans, onion
peas, carrots, potatoes
white beans & sausage (kind of like a jambalaya without the shrimp)

There would probably be quite a few variations using lamb or other meats. I'm excited because the possibilities seem endless. This particular concoction, with the yams, chick peas and raisins, even pleased my husband's palate. He confessed to being "pleasantly surprised" by the taste and had two helpings.

What I like about cooking these is that for one, they're easy, just a little bit of prep and tossing everything in one pan to simmer. Secondly, the ingredients are natural and close to their original form--recognizable. Third, the finished dish is very pretty to look at with all the various colorful foods mixed together. If you had a traditional tagine dish with the cone-shaped lid, they would be lovely indeed.

Most importantly, it's all safe for Chloe.