Harira?

Posted by Meg: Last night for dinner, we made a vegetarian version of harira, a traditional Moroccan dish. Harira is usually eaten during the holy month of Ramadan at dinner to break the day of fast but it is also served for special occasions. The recipe varies by region and family and typically includes lamb. It also almost always includes onion, celery, fresh ginger, lentils, chickpeas, tomatoes, cilantro, parsley, saffron and other spices.

We followed a recipe from Cooking Light magazine, which also called for mushroom stock which added heartiness to the dish. It also included cinnamon, cayenne and garlic. The harira was fantastic! It was somewhere between a soup and a stew and we served it with toasted pita bread. We did a little research this morning and found out that it is often paired with hard boiled eggs sprinkled with salt and cumin or with lemon juice on the side. I think we'll try this tonight.