Moroccan Harira with Eggplant and Chickpeas & Isa Does It Giveaway!

See below for the giveaway for Isa Does It!

If I had to pick a vegan rockstar, it would be Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Long ago, we was rocking it out on television, but now mostly vegan chef, author and blogger. She has penned 7 vegan cookbooks and her eighth book has been eagerly anticipated. As she explains in her newest cookbook, Isa Does It, her title makes more sense once you know her first name is pronounced Ee-sa. Thus, her title is a play on Easy Does It. 😉

As such, Isa Does It highlights mostly simple, quicker recipes (under 30 minutes!) that are foremost tasty. This is a cookbook for the beginner chef as well as those who want to reinvigorate their kitchens with new scents and textures, without breaking the bank or spending hours on top of the stove. Isa explains how she stocks her pantry, her kitchen cabinets and then details specific beginner techniques (with step-by-step photos), such as how to butcher tofu and tempeh.

With 11 recipe chapters that span the gamut from quick soups, salads, handheld, bowls, curries and stir fries, there is a lot of variety. Furthermore, not much is left untouched as Isa also includes fancier “Sunday night suppers” and breakfast/brunch ideas, too. Rest assured, complete meals are encouraged as desserts are included, too.

I admire Isa for a fabulously tantalizing blog, sharing her delicious creations. I guess it should be no surprise that some of my favourite recipes from her blog appear in the cookbook (see below). In addition, of the 150 recipes in the cookbook, the majority are brand-spanking new.

Beefy asparagus stir-fry with fresh herbs. Okra gumbo with chickpeas and kidney beans. Quinoa Caesar salad. Cucumber Ranch bowl with breaded tofu. Edamame hummus and tofu wraps. Belgian beer and seitan stew. Baked garlic-curry fries. Chickpea-Rice soup with cabbage. Coconut chana saag. Chandra Malai kofta. Goddess noodles with tempeh and broccoli. My Thai overnight scramble, breakfast scrambled chickpeas, oh please.

If you have tried Isa’s recipe before, you know the name of each dish never gives you the full picture. They are very descriptive of the ingredients, but something so simple may be more than the sum of its parts. I am eagerly waiting to pounce through this cookbook, page-by-page. Chocolate gingerbread cookies, anyone? I can already vouch for the ancho lentil tacos, tempeh orzilla, Jerk Sloppy Joes, lemon-garlic fava beans and mushrooms, chana masala (not my favourite but Rob liked it well enough), cucumber avocado tea sandwiches, chai spiced snickerdoodles, and now her delicious Moroccan harira with eggplant and chickpeas.

Harira is a Moroccan soup/stew that I have been meaning to recreate since I travelled to Morocco. Let’s just say it has been on my to-make list for many years. It wasn’t until I saw Isa’s recipe that I jumped at the chance to try it out. Harira is a very forgiving recipe. As I travelled through Morocco, nearly every restaurant had a different version of harira. Some with chickpeas, some with lentils, sometimes both beans, some with tomatoes, others with ginger, some with herbs, others not. I cannot say that I saw any with eggplant, but that is Isa’s slant.

First, I made a few tweaks to Isa’s recipe… mainly because I had no vegetable broth, so I used my impromptu nooch plus random spice blend. This time, I threw in dried parsley, lemon pepper and the 21-spice seasoning from Trader Joe’s. I also substituted spiralized zucchini for the noodles. Ingenious, if I may say so myself. Anyways, less about me, more about Isa. This soup was great. Bulky and satisfying with chickpeas and lentils in a flavourful tomato broth spiced with ginger, cinnamon, smoked paprika and saffron. Fresh mint and cilantro add a lightness, along with the finishing lemon juice. I use saffron so sparingly I am glad I finally found a great use for it! The textural foil of the noodles with the beans was perfect.

For someone new to veganism, the ingredient lists in her recipes may still seem a tad overwhelming (vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, chickpea flour, cashews, wine and fresh herbs) but these are rather commonplace in a vegan’s kitchen. Except the saffron, because well, that’s not a regular ingredient. Once you have access to fresh herbs, it is hard to return to the dried ones, so I understand the recent push for quality ingredients.

I really want to share this cookbook with you. Thankfully the publisher is letting me give a cookbook to one reader living in the US or Canada. To be entered, please leave a comment here, telling me about your favourite Isa recipe. If you haven’t made anything by Isa yet, have a look through the table of contents of Isa Does It on amazon (or my list below) and tell me what you want to cook the most. I will randomly select a winner on October 31, 2013. Good luck!

PS. Today is also the last day to enter my giveaway for The Ayurvedic Vegan Kitchen. Enter here.

PPS. If you pre-ordered your cookbook already, don’t forget to get your free Isa Does It tote bag.

PPPS. Versions of Isa’s dishes made previously, not all from Isa Does It (more recommended dishes can be found listed here):

Ancho Lentil Salad Wraps 
Black Bean and Kabocha Squash Rancheros
Roasted Beet Salad with Warm Maple Mustard Dressing and Tempeh Croutons
White Bean, Quinoa and Kale Stew with Fennel
Asparagus, Nectarine and Baby Lima Bean Lettuce Wrap
Naked Oats with Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Crumbled Tempeh
Tomato-Basil Zucchini Noodle Salad
Chickpea Piccata
Brown Sugar Cardamom Snickerdoodles

PPPPS. Isa’s recipes in Isa Does It that she has already shared on her blog, Post Punk Kitchen, and elsewhere:

Everyday Pad Thai
Seitan & Broccoli with Pantry BBQ Sauce
Cucumber Avocado Tea Sandwiches with Dill & Mint
Roasted Potato & Fennel Soup
Chickpea-Rice Soup with Cabbage
Alphabet Soup
New England Glam Chowder
Quarter Pounder Beet Burger
Olive Lentil Burgers
Jerk Sloppy Joes with Coconut Creamed Spinach
Sunflower Mac (and Cheese)
Roasted Butternut Alfredo
Lentil-A-Roni
Ancho Lentil Tacos
Dragon Noodle Salad
Bestest Pesto
Pesto Risotto with Roasted Zucchini
Chili Pumpkin Cranberry Risotto with Spicy Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
Red Lentil Thai Chili
Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Penne with Broccoli
Chana Masala
Dilly Stew with Rosemary Dumplings
Meaty Beany Chili with Corn Muffins
Okra Gumbo with Chickpeas & Kidney Beans
Lemon Garlic Fava Beans & Mushrooms
Summer Seitan Saute with Cilantro and Lime
Tamale Shepherd’s Pie
Nirvana Enchilada Casserole
Tempeh Orzilla
Garlicky Thyme Tempeh
Puffy Pillow Pancakes
Carrot Cake Pancakes
Marbled Banana Bread
Chai Spice Snickerdoodles
Rosemary Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is my submission to Deb for this week’s Souper Sundays and to next month’s Veg Cookbook Club.

Note: I was given a complimentary copy of this book to review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own. You know I would have loved this book and would have bought my own copy. 🙂

Harira with Eggplant and Chickpeas
Courtesy of Isa Does It

2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp salt, plus a pinch (note: I used less)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (I used Aleppo chile flakes)
8 cups vegetable broth (note: I used a combination of water with nutritional yeast, dried parsley, lemon pepper and 21-spice seasoning)
1 medium eggplant (~1 lb), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1/2 cup brown or green lentils
2 tsp sweet paprika (note: I used sweet smoked paprika)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp saffron threads, crushed (note: Isa says optional but it was a great addition; I would recommend a bit less, though)
1 (24-oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (15-oz) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained (1.5 cups cooked chickpeas)
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint, plus extra for garnish
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus extra for garnish
4 ounces angel hair pasta (note: I substituted one zucchini that I had spiralized, being sure to then cut them into manageable lengths)

1. Preheat a 4-quart soup pot over medium heat and add the oil. Saute the onion in the oil with a pinch of salt until translucent, 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes and saute for 1 more minute.

2. Deglaze the pot with a splash of broth. Add the eggplant, lentils, paprika, cinnamon, remaining 1 tsp of salt and saffron threads (if desired), along with 4 cups of the broth. If you add all of the broth it will take a longer time to come to a boil and break down the lentils and eggplant, which is why we’re not adding it all at once.

3. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Keep it at a boil but lower the heat a bit if it’s boiling too violently. Leave the lid slightly ajar so that steam can escape, and boil for 20 minutes, checking and stirring occasionally. The eggplant should be mostly disintegrated and the lentils should be soft.

4. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas, mint and cilantro and at least 2 more cups of vegetable broth, and more if needed to make it soup-like and not too thick. Bring to a boil, then break the pasta strands into thirds and add to the pot, gently coaxing with a spatula to submerge and separate the strands. Cook until the pasta is soft then thin out the soup with the remaining broth, if needed. (Janet’s note: if using zucchini, just cook for 1 minute as it will soften very fast). Serve in big bowls, with extra herbs for garnish.

Serves 8-10 according to Isa, we had more like 4-5 servings.