This past weekend was the sunniest of all weekends in London, it really felt like summer. We went to the park and had a picnic with Laelia for the first time. She was very intrigued by the ducks and the baby swans but she was also very scared of the grass. Do all babies get scared of the grass?  We ate chocolate chip cookies and stuffed batbouts with chicken, preserved lemons and olive tagine. I can’t wait for the weather to be sunny again and prepare more picnic friendly recipes. It was so much fun.

Unlike this past weekend the weather isn’t great today, it’s not really cold but the sky is sadly grey and that is a serious mood killer! To remedy this annoying situation I brought a bit of sunshine to my kitchen and cooked this delicious vegan tagine. And you should too! The good news is all you need is about 10 ingredients give or take and 30 minutes.

Back to this tagine, it’s incredibly tasty and slightly fruity. It has the right amount of sweet and savoury and as I told you, it’s unbelievably quick to prepare. I love cauliflower but to be honest I don’t cook it very often! Every time I roast cauliflower I tell myself, “oh this is tasty, why don’t I roast cauliflower more often!” Hopefully I will come up with more recipes that contain roasted cauliflower in the future. Enjoy!

Roasted Cauliflower, Chickpea and Apricots Tagine

INGREDIENTS

Serves 4

• 1 x 400g can chickpea, rinsed and drained

• 150ml vegetable stock

• 100g dried apricots

• 2 large onions, sliced

• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

• 2 tablespoons olive oil and more to roast the cauliflower

• ½ teaspoon ground turmeric

• ½ teaspoon ground ginger

• ½ teaspoon ground cumin

• ½ teaspoon ground coriander

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1 large cauliflower cut into florets (makes approximately 600g florets)

• Cooked couscous or bread to serve

• Chopped coriander to serve

• Ground roasted almonds or almonds flake, to serve

METHOD

• Preheat the oven to 200 C.

• In a large saucepan add in the olive oil, onions, chickpeas, apricots, garlic, spices and salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover with a lid and leave to simmer gently. Stir occasionally.

• Meanwhile, roast the cauliflower florets. Place the cauliflower florets in a large roasting tray, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a bit of salt and mix together. Transfer in the oven until tender and golden, about 25 to 30 minutes.

• Add the cauliflower to the simmering apricots and chickpea tagine. Check the tagine’s consistency and add a few tablespoons of stock or water if necessary. Cook for 5 minutes then taste and adjust the seasoning with salt.

• Serve with couscous or bread, coriander and almonds if desired.

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