Fig, mint & almond salad - MOROCCO

I've been saving up a few posts to use for days such as today, where I am stuck in bed with the flu, my only movement being to flip the pages of my book and to boil the kettle for tea. Actually I've haven't even done that, I've got two fabulous flatmates who have been refilling my tea cup faster than I can drink it and would probably read my book to me too if I asked. Bless them.

Anyway today's post is not a dish particular to Morocco but more just a combination of flavours that are quite common. It would be more traditional to use couscous but I'm trying to balance out all the naughty food I've been eating so I used quinoa instead. 

FIG, MINT & ALMOND SALAD - MOROCCO

Ingredients:

2 figs

a handful of fresh mint

1/3 cup almonds

1 cup quinoa

handful of rocket

1 tbs balsamic vinegar

1 tbs agave syrup

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp lemon juice

salt & pepper

Instructions:

Cook then quinoa in 2 cups of water for 10-15 minutes, drain and set aside to cool.

In a jar mix the balsamic vinegar, agave syrup, olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper. Shake and pour over the quinoa. Roast and roughly chop the almonds, dice the figs, chop the mint and add them all to the quinoa, mix together and serve.

Earth Cafe, Morocco

Heading off to Morocco for a week, I was well aware that the vegetarian couscous was more than likely going to be seasoned not only with butter but possibly a pinch or two of cow. I told myself that although I live a happy little vegan lifestyle at home and can try my best, we all know that it's not always possible. 
Unfortunately I've never been one of those people who is very good at asking questions and investigating every ingredient in a meal; especially when in the company of omnivores in a non-English speaking country. I tend to just sort of quietly mutter something along the lines of "ah, sorry to bother you, but ah, sorry, is ah this ah.. vegan" and accept their half convinced answer of yes and just hope it is.
Bad vegan.
So for the four days I spent hiking in the Atlas mountains I ate the fried egg I was given, the couscous lying underneath the chicken carcass, and so much laughing cow cheese that I actually had a stomach ache for the week following.
But.. (Yes, this is going somewhere optimistic) whilst in Marrakech I made it my mission to seek out the one and only vegan restaurant in Morocco, Earth Cafe, which I had heard many wonderful things about. It was a tad pricer than the average restaurant in Marrakech, but since the average was coming in at around £2.50 a plate, I decided to 'splurge'. 


Now about the dish. I really enjoy typos in foreign countries so I'm going to leave the spelling the same. I had the 'Fillo pastry filled with zuccini, prune, raisin, date, fresh herbs in tomato concasse sauce'.

Delish.

I haven't seen a dish this well presented since, well, the last dish I served up. (Gosh modesty.. it's so overrated.) But really it's so great to find a vegan restaurant serving up original dishes that inspire and intrigue the taste buds. 

Well done Earth cafe. Well done.