Market Meets Pantry- Guess What I'm Making (Tunisia)

Don't you love it when you can make your entire meal from things you already have on hand? For our planned Tunisian meal, that's exactly what happened.  Our pantry was the market!

Can you guess the meal?

Bell pepper, onion, garlic, eggs, salt, pepper, tomatoes,  chili paste, and cumin.

Planning Day: Tunisia!

I am so excited at the prospect of cooking a Tunisian dish. Food seems to be quick and easy to make, using ingredients pretty much always found in cupboards and pantries. Also nice and cheap.

Couscous is again often a featured dish. It seems to be fairly universal in that norther region of Africa. Since couscous is so enjoyed by my family I have no problem serving it again if necessary. Rather like we eat dishes with rice or pasta, the couscous becomes a bottom layer upon which to serve vegetable and protein (bean and meat like lamb) based stew-like dishes.

Seafood seems to be fairly common in the northern region. There's one dish called Brik that's rather like a meat pie except it's stuffed with tuna fish and egg. I've been thinking we need to include more fish and seafood in our diet.

Tunisia also has a quiche like dish called a tajin. I suppose another comparison for the tajin would be the Spanish tortilla. Yet another home-style dish called shakshouka is made by simmering various vegetables on the stove top and adding eggs to the top. Thinking the "tajin" sounds the least daring.

The ingredients are mostly very normal. The results, well, different. Will we enjoy it? Sure hope so. What would you make if you were crafting a Tunisian supper for your family?

Super Bowl finger food dessert: Moroccan Honeyed Dates

If you're going shopping for food for a Super Bowl party tomorrow, or even if you've already finished shopping, you might want to consider picking up some dates for a fabulous and easy to make Super Bowl friendly dessert.

Dates. Sweet and filled with fiber. A healthier treat to have around when you want something sugary, for sure. Almonds. Who will argue the health benefits of eating a few almonds? Now picture coating the almonds in honey, carmelized, and stuffing the honeyed almonds in some plump, juicy dates. Sounds pretty good! It sure is.

My whole family devoured this easy to make Moroccan dessert the other night when we had our Moroccan dinner adventure. My husband when he saw the stuffed dates commented "These look like footballs!" I laughed "Perfect for a superbowl party!" He agreed.

They do look rather like footballs...

But the taste. Wow. What an explosion of sweet chewiness! These are addictive!

Here's how my son and I made them.

Split the dates lengthwise and remove the pits.

Now comes the fun part. Feel free to let your child(ren) help stuff the honeyed almonds in the dates.

Yum! A tasty healthier dessert perfect for a superbowl or any party!

Find the recipe here at Maroque.