Tagine of Chickpeas, Autumn Vegetables and Apricots in Slow Cooker

It's a beautiful fall day, and at 6 this morning I found myself cleaning out the fridge of a number of lovely root vegetables I'd purchased at the farmer's market and trying to figure out what to do with them.  

Really, you could make this with any root vegetables, so long as you end up with approximately 6 cups or so.  You can also replace the spices with 2 - 3 Tbsp of your favorite Ras el Hanout blend.  And, of course, you can also make this in a regular pot to speed up the cooking time.

Slow Cooker tip for my high altitude readers:  For high altitude cooking, add an additional 30 minutes for each hour of time specified in the recipe. Legumes take about twice as long at 10,000 feet as they would at sea level.

4 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil 2 large onion, coarsely chopped 3 garlic cloves, pressed 4 tsp cumin seed 3 tsp turmeric 1 pinch saffron 2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes 6 cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth 1/2 tsp salt 1 (20-ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained 1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes 2 turnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes 20 dried apricots ; 2 tsp cinnamon

1	Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add onion; sauté until it begins to be translucent, 3-6 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 3 minutes.
2	Transfer onion mixture to a slow cooker,
3	Add cumin seeds to same saute pan. Shake to evenly distribute. Roast on low until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Deglaze pan with 1/2 cup water and add to slow cooker.
4	Add tomatoes, vegetable broth, remaining spices, and salt. Cover and cook on low for 1/2 hour.
5	In the meantime, chop the butternut squash and turnip. Add to slow cooker. Cook on low for approximately 4 hours.
6	Add the apricots, cinnamon, and garbanzo beans; cook on low for an additional hour.
7	Serve over couscous.

Servings: 8

Nutrition Facts

Serving size: 1/8 of a recipe (10.3 ounces). Percent daily values based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet. Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.

Amount Per Serving Calories 207.4 Calories From Fat (40%) 83.61 % Daily Value Total Fat 9.43g 15% Saturated Fat 2.21g 11% Cholesterol 0mg 0% Sodium 579.33mg 24% Potassium 563.52mg 16% Total Carbohydrates 27.12g 9% Fiber 5.71g 23% Sugar 6.51g Protein 5.95g 12% Vitamin A 2966.42IU 59% Vitamin B12 0mcg 0% Vitamin B6 0.52mg 26% Vitamin C 29.4mg 49% Vitamin E 2.14mg 21% Vitamin K 8.47mcg 11%