Our daughter made us a lovely Moroccan style meal of poached fish with chickpeas in 30 minutes! At the same time she put together a vegan version for herself. Both Fish and Vegan recipe cards included!

Read more: 30 Minute Moroccan Fish with Chickpeas

“Where’s the Tajine Mom?” our daughter asked. I handed her a big stainless steel frying pan and lid as a substitute and she made do, whipping up a tasty meal in a half an hour.

What is a Tajine or Tagine?

A Tajine or Tagine is an earthenware pot used primarily in North Africa and the MIddle East consisting of two parts; a flat low sided frying pan base, with a cone shaped lid. The cover causes condensation to fall back to the bottom of the pan. I think it would be lovely to have a nice ceramic Tajine in my kitchen, but I have far too many pots and pans already. A wide lidded frying pan worked very well for this meal.

Tajine or Tagine is also the name for a dish traditionally made in a Tajine – just to add to the confusion. AND, you don’t need a Tajine to make a Tajine. BUT, you’ll sure feel fancier if you have one. While we used a lidded frying pan, we could also have tried to use my ceramic dutch oven.

Our daughter stopped in to stay with us for a few weeks. She was in between her winter work in the Caribbean and her summer work in the Mediterranean – as a travelling foodie and chef. When she wasn’t busy working online or shopping for beachwear, we cajoled her into making us dinner as often as possible.

It’s pretty awesome to try new flavours and ideas, which we did quite often during her visit. On this occasion, we had come in from shopping and wanted to have something nice for dinner (as my husband would say) on the table quickly. We had some frozen haddock on hand, a can of chickpeas, stewed tomatoes and a whole lotta spices! The spices are optional and a lot of measuring didn’t happen, so keep in mind that these are approximate amounts!

My daughter’s version of poached fish in spicy tomatoes with chickpeas and vegetables is below. She took a portion of this recipe out and added fried tofu – to create a vegan version of the recipe for herself. I have modified this recipe to create a full vegan recipe card at the end.

She always cooks healthy dinners, and keeps our taste buds dancing……. Enjoy!

Moroccan Fish with Chickpeas Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 sweet onion, sliced
• 1-2 sweet peppers sliced
• 2 tsp paprika
• ½ tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• ¼ tsp chili flakes (optional)
• 1 Tbsp garlic powder
• 1 19 oz can stewed, diced tomatoes
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 2 Tbsp harissa
• 1 19 oz can of drained, rinsed chickpeas
• 1/2 cup (or more) frozen edamame
• 10 pitted green olives, halved or sliced
• 1/2 bunch of cilantro, washed, dried and roughly chopped
• 4 frozen haddock fillets (or other firm white fish)
• freshly ground pepper and salt (to taste)

Moroccan Fish with Chickpeas Method:

• Saute onions in olive oil over medium heat until softened.
• Add sliced sweet peppers and continue to saute.
• Add stewed tomatoes, harissa, spices and broth. Stir and cover to simmer for a few minutes.
• Stir in tomato paste, chickpeas, and edamame.

• Cover and cook on medium low for about 10 minutes – monitoring carefully to make sure the mixture is not burning or boiling over. (At about this point our daughter – a vegan – removed some of the mixture and placed in a bowl to cook separately for herself with some fried Tofu!)
• Add cilantro, olives – and place fish on top of mixture.

• Cover and let simmer for about 12-14 minutes, occasionally lifting the lid and scooping some of the sauce over top of the fish – so that the fish becomes covered and “poaches” fully. Our haddock fillets were frozen and a little thick – so at least 14 minutes for us!
• When fish is fully cooked (fish flakes when cut with a fork and is no longer transparent) add salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve with some couscous or rice and a nice slice of sourdough!

Our chef is off travelling again, and we are left to our own devices in the kitchen – we’ll get by though! I’m not sure if she learned how to make this when she was in Morocco or elsewhere or just from a friend – it doesn’t matter.

It was nice to try a different meal with a different flavour combination – served hot and on the table within 30 minutes, after a hard day of shopping!

Below is a printable recipe card from RecipesGenerator. Please give it a try!

Here is the vegan version! It tastes wonderful as well.

Thanks for stopping in at Everyday Lillie. Please have a look around as much as you like. If you enjoyed the visit, please feel free to follow, share, comment or like. Please drop in again soon!

Follow Everyday Lillie on WordPress.com