Quick & Healthy: Moroccan Style Stuffed Capsicums

This blog has moved to http://multiculturalmelbourne.com/

Multicultural Influence of... Morocco

Another trip to the Queen Vic Market, another few hours of inspiration to cook. There is nothing better than being surrounded by beautiful, fresh, vibrant produce, and I honestly believe there's no where better than the market for that. While walking through the sheds of fresh fruit, veggies, meats, breads, herbs, and everything in between, an idea springs to my mind. A big, fat, roasted red capsicum... Filled with.... stuff. Not sure what yet, I'm assuming it'll come to me as I continue my market walk. And sure enough, it does. A Moroccan inspired stuffing. Hmmm... With all of my ingredients fresh from the market, let's see what I can concoct...


First things first, oven on 180°C, and slice the tops off the capsicums.

Into the oven they go, on a baking paper lined tray, until they start to blister, turning them every 10 minutes of so.

Meanwhile, heat a bit of olive oil in a large saucepan, and throw in some diced onion (about half a large onion) and two cloves of minced garlic, until the onion starts to soften and brown slightly.

Next, in goes around 500g of gluten free sausage mince. Looooove it!

On top of the mince, a bit of Moroccan spice mix and sweet paprika, and cook it up until it's brown and cooked through...

... like this!

Next in goes half a grated zucchini...

... and about half a cup of saffron rice (I like to put a bit of water, a bit of white wine and a pinch of saffron threads in a saucepan, and throw in some paella rice, bringing it to a boil and then simmering until it's cooked through).

After combining that, I throw in a handful of toasted slivered almonds and pine nuts, to add a nice crunchy texture and a delicious flavour.

And here's the finished product, ready to go inside the roasted capsicums! Easy!

Out of the oven with the capsicums - they're not over roasted, as I need them to still stand up in the bowl; if they're too soft, they'll just collapse.

Spoon in the stuffing and top with a bit of crumbled feta cheese!

And that's it! Quick, simple, yummy, and looks awfully pretty! And the bonus is, you can eat the bowl as you work your way through the stuffing! I think this would also work great with eggplant, or even a large tomato to hold it all in.

It may look like a bit of work and not so "quick," but it actually is - you just throw everything into the fry pan while the capsicums roast, and you can cook up a whole lot of rice and leave it in the fridge for a few days, taking out what you need as you need it! And as long as you don't use a heap of oil and very lean mince, it actually isn't terribly unhealthy, particularly because you don't need a heap of stuffing in the capsicum.

Over to you guys; where do you find inspiration to create something a little different in the kitchen?

Moroccan Meatballs & Chickpeas

This blog has moved to http://multiculturalmelbourne.com/

Multicultural Cuisine of... Morocco

As I've mentioned before, I haven't always been the most adventurous eater. In fact, I've been called a "fussy" eater more than a handful of times. One of the things in the great land of food I'm most frightened of is anything spicy. I am terrified of spice. I was scarred for life a few years ago when Sous-Jeff and I went to Nandos. Sous-Jeff is my polar opposite - the more spice, the better. In fact, if all of his taste buds are dead by the end of the meal and he can't actually taste a thing, that's a win for him. So when our grilled chicken wraps came out and the little flags were switched, with Sous-Jeff receiving my Lemon Herb with avocado wrap, and me accidentally biting into his Extra Hot wrap, it was a disaster. I literally couldn't speak for the next 15 minutes. I couldn't taste anything for the next 3 hours (pity, seeing as our next stop was a movie and I was really looking forward to my popcorn!), and I didn't speak to him for the next day. Since then, I've even be frightened of sweet chilli sauce.


In a bizarre turn of events, I decided to make a Moroccan spiced dish for dinner. Sous-Jeff was intrigued and confused. Why in heaven's name did a spice-a-phobe decide to cook this meal? Because, I say, I'm trying some new things and I want to branch out. And besides, I'm not putting that much spice in it.

This is my recipe for a super quick, easy and yummy dinner, travels well to work with me when I need to re-heat and eat on the run too. I didn't actually pull this recipe from any book or magazine, I just had a look in the fridge and pantry to see what I had to work with, from there an idea was born, and I just ran with it!

The ingredients you'll need to make this meal for two are:

• 300g beef mince
• 25g finely diced onion
• 1 tsp Moroccan mixed spice
• spray olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely diced
• zest of 1 lemon
• 150g diced red capsicum
• 150g diced zucchini
• 150g halved cherry tomatoes
• 300g chickpeas
• 1 tsp Moroccan mixed spice
• juice of half a lemon
• 1 tsp parsley
• 50g low fat fetta

First up, put the mince, onion, Moroccan spice, and a little sea salt in a bowl, and combine with your hands. Shape into little, tablespoon sized meatballs. Heat some spray oil in a large fry pan over medium heat and cook the meatballs until browned and almost completely cooked inside.

Next, add in the garlic and lemon zest, and cook for a minute.

Turn the heat up to high and add in the capsicum and zucchini and cook for 3 - 5 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, or until the veggies start to soften.

In with the tomatoes and chickpeas next and the other little bit of Moroccan spice, again stirring with the wooden spoon, for another 3 - 5 minutes, or until the tomatoes start to fall apart a little.

Lastly, add in the lemon juice, a little more sea salt and parsley, stirring for a minute. Take the pan off the heat and divide up into two bowls. Top with some fetta, and enjoy! 

See mum, I can cook something other than dessert!