Moroccan Vegetarian Carrots and Chickpeas

Last week I got sick. Like stay in bed, high fever, moan and groan sick. I actually reached the point where I didn't even eat much; and for me that says a lot. I basically lived off of oatmeal, cream of wheat, and orange juice for a week straight. In fact, other than that one soggy chunk of carrot floating in the can of soup I so desperately bought from CVS, I actually did go an entire week without eating a single vegetable until my friend took pity on me and gave me some minestrone soup from the sandwich shop where she works.

So when I finally started to feel better, one of the first things I did was make a real meal. With vegetables.

The thing is, because I was already low on food when I got sick, and what little I had sort of hit the dust in the fridge while I was out of commission (my poor mushrooms!), I didn't have a whole lot left in the vegetable department when I finally made my comeback. The one thing that I did have was 5 pounds of carrots. Carrots are awesome in many ways, one of which being like any root type vegetable, they last for a really really long time - even when you get them at the supermarket and they've already been sitting around for no one knows how long.

So anyway, I'm feeling better, want to eat a real meal, and have a bunch of carrots but little else. Inspired by the fact that I no longer felt like I'd just run head first into a wall with cotton stuffed in my ears and nose, I decided to make something new. So I started scrolling the internet and came across this.  Actually, I was the first thing that popped up when I searched 'vegan recipe with carrots' in google, so I didn't have to do much scrolling. Hahaha.

The recipe looked really easy, really delicious, and totally up my alley, so I tried it out.
And I absolutely loved it!

I guess it's a Moroccan type dish. It has chickpeas, carrots, onion, and a bunch of spices including cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, cayenne pepper, as well as a hint of sweetness from honey and raisins.
I was going to post the recipe here with my alterations (I made just a few), but I decided why bother. The recipe is awesome as is, so it's easy enough to just give you a link to where I found it. But before doing that, I want to give you a few suggestions.

First, I only cooked it for about 15 minutes after adding the carrots. Second, I'm out of cayanne pepper, so I used crushed red pepper flakes. They worked really well. Third, I used agave nectar instead of honey. It works well and is a little less sweet, which I like. Forth, I didn't add raisins. I wish I had, but I have very few raisins left and wanted to save them for my oatmeal. But I think that if you have raisins, you should definitely use them, even though the recipe says they're optional. And last but definitely not least, I put it on top of rice, which after trying it with and without rice, I really preferred.

So, once again, here's a link to the recipe:http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/vegetarianmaindishes/r/moroccan_carrot_chickpea_tagine.htm