Moroccan Style Dutch Oven Garden Pot

A few years ago, Eric's brother gifted us a Lodge campfire Dutch oven. This summer, I've been experimenting with some at home campfire cooking, using our old yard-saled Weber grill and our fire pit. I started with a Moroccan style dish with fennel, onions, homegrown purple carrots, potatoes, tomatoes and garbanzo beans over rice.

I added an assortment of spices and let it cook over the coals for about 50 minutes. The smells emanating from this pot made me deliriously happy.

Right before serving, I added some minced garlic and some fresh spinach and basil from the garden to brighten up the flavor. The rice on the bottom burnt a bit to the bottom of the pan adding a welcome crispiness to the meal.

I'm not remembering the exact measurements of ingredients to this dish, but here are my approximations. When cutting the vegetables, I like to make them larger bite sized pieces as the high heat extended cooking tends to soften them perfectly.

Moroccan Style Dutch Oven Garden Pot
1 1/2 cups Jasmine rice
2 potatoes, cubed
1 bulb fennel, chopped
2 carrots
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 Tablespoon diced fresh ginger
15 ounces garbanzo beans (drained & rinsed if from a can. About 1 1/2 cups cooked if fresh)
28 ounces diced tomatoes with juice (2-3 fresh tomatoes, chopped)
3 cups vegetable stock
olive oil for the pan

spices (about 1 teaspoon each):
turmeric
coriander
Garam Marsala
oregano
cumin
dried ginger
cardamom
1 cinnamon stick

sea salt
pepper

after cooking:
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups of spinach
1 cup fresh basil or cilantro
season to taste

Thickly grease the bottom and sides of the Dutch oven with olive oil. Add rice. In a separate bowl, combine potatoes, fennel, carrot, onion, fresh ginger, garbanzos, spices, sea salt & pepper. Mix to coat. Pour vegetable/spice mix onto rice in Dutch oven. Add tomatoes. Add vegetable stock. Cover Dutch oven and lower onto hot coals. Push the coals around the Dutch oven. Cook for about 50-55 minutes.

Pull from fire. Let cool for 10 minutes, then add fresh spinach, basil or cilantro and diced garlic. Serve and enjoy.

Note: the camp Dutch oven has legs for it to sit on top of the coals. If using a regular Dutch oven without legs, it is recommended to set it on top of rocks or bricks rather than directly on the coals.

Addendum: When serving, I highly recommend a small spoonful of harissa stirred into the vegetables. The heat of the harissa opens up the other flavors & has me always opting for seconds.