Harira

During the week I am pretty much vegetarian some meat will creep in but if I am honest its mostly vege food .

However weekends with the lovely boyfreind Nick do tend to be more meaty with pies stews casseroles roasts however but things are changing and last night I was surprised by a wholly vegetarian dish cooked by his own fair hand. A vegetarian Harira the traditional Algerian and Moroccan soup, it is usually eaten during dinner in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan to break the fasting day & was adapted from the Hairy Bikers Simon King and David Myers .

It was just fantastic the mix of different textures of two types of lentils and rice withhin a soup is one I will be playing with .The Hairy Bikers added 300g of rump steak , but it was delicious without meat , perhaps I would add some for a dinner party . Strikes me this would be an excellence dish pre-cooked for camping .

Served with warm bread, a bowl of dates on the side and a little bowl of harissa. I can heartily recommend throwing a few chopped dates into each dish with a swirl of harrisa , the dates add a sweet stickiness with the warm bite of harrissa.

Harira

Serves 4 very hungry people ( six easily)

4tbsp of sunflower oil
1 onion finely chopped
2 sticks of celery
2 carrots
100g of red lentils
110g of green lentils
110g of brown rice
2 garlic cloves crushed
1 tsp of cinnamon
2 tsp of ground cumin
100g dried chickpeas soaked overnight
200g tinned tomatoes
3 pints of vegetable stock
150g of green beans cut into 1cm length
1/2 lemon- juice only
handful of fresh corianderfinely chopped
handful of fresh parsley finely chopped

To serve
Dates
Harrissa ( made with 2 tsp of chilli paste , 2 tbsp finely chopped garlic, 1 tsp of ground coriander 1 tsp salt . Blended together )
warm pitta or lavash bread

Method

1. In a large saucepan sauté the onion, celery and carrots until softened in the oil. add the lentils, rice, garlic, cinnamon, and cumin to the pan.
4. Add the chickpeas, tomatoes and stock, Cover and simmer for 40 minutes.
5. Add the green beans and stir. Simmer for further five minutes, add the lemon juice, coriander and parsley.