Tagine, whether based on meat or vegetables, is one of my favourite dishes. This recipe packs a protein punch with lean beef mince as the base, and gives you three servings of your five portions of fruit/vegetables per day too! Plus, it’s VERY tasty – it was a big hit in my house! Let’s get cooking.

Note: If you’re vegetarian, you could sub the beef mince for 2 400g tins of red kidney beans and cook in the same way! I’ll definitely be trying the vegetarian version myself soon too.

Recipe (Serves 6)

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil
• 1 tsp of ground cumin
• 1 tsp of ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp of sumac
• 2 tsp of ground turmeric
• 3 tbsp of tomato puree
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
• 1 white onion, peeled and diced
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into coins, then quarter the coins
• 3 stalks of celery, diced into small semi-circles
• 2 x 400ml tins of chopped tomatoes
• 500g of lean beef mince
• 200ml of water or stock
• 1 handful of dried apricots or sultanas (or a mixture)
• 1 handful of chopped or flaked almonds
• Servings of Brown Rice (number of servings/grams dependent on how many mouths you’re feeding) – other grain options that would work well with this recipe would be couscous or quinoa

Method 

1. Wash and prepare your veggies as above. Set aside.
2. Heat the olive oil in a medium size pot, then add the chopped onions and garlic. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the onions are softened, then add the veggies and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the beef mince, and cook until slightly browned.
4. Add the spices, and stir for another 5 minutes to coat the beef and veg in them.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree and stock, and stir everything to mix it all together.
6. Bring the tagine to the boil, then turn the heat all the way down to the lowest setting, and simmer for 20 minutes.
7. While the tagine is simmering, cook your chosen side dish.
8. After the simmer time you’re good to go! Serve up, and tuck in!

Enjoy guys! Tag me if you try this recipe out – @theirishbalance on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook!

Ciara 🙂 x