Moroccan Mushroom with Couscous

I always smile when I think about our Moroccan trip. It has made our journey very exciting from the very  start: two backpacks, two flight tickets, a Lonely Planet guide book and some money – that was all we took. And – of course – the road plan in our head about what we would like to see.

No accommodation bookings, no pre-paid train tickets, nothing.

We had so many adventures during those 12 days. Climbing the Jebel Toubkal (1,5 km vertical distance in 7 hours and 11 km long hiking trip until the refugee house and 11 km back to the village Imlil, the next day) is an experience that will remain with us forever. This was my very first hiking trip and a very difficult one. I brought home two small pebbles from the Atlas mountains, which are still sitting on my computer desk at home and they constantly remind me that if I endured the climbing and hiking I’m able to accomplish everything in life.

I’ve brought you a Moroccan recipe for today that I found on BBC’s GoodFood Healthy Recipes for the iPhone (a very useful app for a food blogger :)).

Moroccan Mushroom with Couscous

Ingredients (serves 4)

– 300 g button mushroom, quartered
– 400 g (1 can) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
– 400 g (1 can) chopped tomatoes, drained but keep the tomato juice
– 1 red onion, chopped
– 1 teaspoon cumin
– 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
– 1 teaspoon honey
– 180 g couscous
– 50 g soft dried apricots, diced
– small handful of parsley, roughly chopped
– salt, pepper
– olive oil

Method

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a pan and fry the onin for a couple of minutes until softened. Add cinnamon and cumin and cook for 1 minute, stirring. Add the mushrooms, cook for 2 minutes, then stir in the tomatoes, half of the juice of the can tomatoes, chickpeas and honey. Season with salt and pepper, simmer for 7-8 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a pan mix the couscous with the dried apricots, some salt and pepper. Pour over 250 ml boiling water, then cover. Leave to stand for 8-10 minutes or until softened. To serve, fluff up with a fork, stir in the parsley and top with the mushroom mixture. We can pour over the dish with the remaining tomato juice.