232: Moroccan Beet and Squash Stew

I've been interested in Moroccan flavors for a bit- see way back to these recipes. They seen to use a lot of fruit, raisins, and other rich/sweet ingredients, and then an intense heat to balance. It's a pleasing thing now and then, but I'm not sure I could eat it every day. This recipe yielded a lot, though, so I guess I'll be testing that theory this week. 

The flavors of this dish interested me, but the reviews gave me a little pause. There seemed to be an issue with the cooking times of the various ingredients, the beets taking way longer than the squash. So I made some educated guesses! That generally worked! Yay!

I roasted all my beets while doing the beet ketchup. Then I added everything in the order called for in the recipe, except the only head start the beets got was until the water started to simmer. Then I added everything except the chickpeas, which were canned and didn't need a full 40 or whatever minutes to cook through as the recipe called for. 

I checked every 10 minutes, and found that after 20 my squash was almost there, so I added the chickpeas. I let it go another 10 and had to take it off the heat, any longer and the squash would start to fall apart.

Leftovers with some cilantro. My phone doesn't like intense reds, this was really gorgeous IRL.

Next time I'd add the chickpeas at 10 mins, and take the whole thing off closer to 25. I'd also have the correct amount of radishes (I had 1/10th of a lb and went with it). I'm also curious to see how preserved lemon tastes with this- it's stirred in at the end, so I may make a Kalustyan's run this week.