North African Bean Stew With Barley and Winter Squash Recipe (2024)

This is one of the most delicious new recipes I have tried in a long time. I followed it pretty much exactly (cooked garbanzos from scratch and mixed the spices myself). The flavors and textures are outstanding. As long time vegetarians this was a wonderful find, since many things are either too bland or rely on cheese. Ms. Clark, I am a big fan of your healthy recipes but you've outdone yourself on this one. I am not a huge stew fan but this is almost soup which I love.

Do we really need 2 quarts of broth and 3 cups of water--i.e., 11 cups of liquid? I wondered if there was a mistake there or if this stew really needs that much liquid?

If you don't have Baharat or a cinnamon stick, and want to make enough spice mix for just this recipe, use:1 tbsp sweet paprika1 1/2 tsp ground coriander1 1/2 ground cumin1 1/2 tsp ground turmeric1 tsp black pepper1/2 tsp grated nutmeg1/2 tsp ground cardamom 1/2 tsp allspice1/2 tsp cinnamon

If you used canned beans, would you use the same amount and the same cooking times as shown in the recipe?

This is a terrific recipe that fills the home with beautiful, exotic aromas. One tip is that you'll need at least a 6-qt. pot. I started it in my 5-qt. Dutch oven and it would have overflowed, so I transferred everything to an 8-qt. stock pot. I also decided to add carrots and cayenne, and I skipped the lentils (an oversight; I would have used them if I'd had them).

I'm stunned by these comments. I followed the recipe exactly and it was amazing. Very spicy . the only thing I can consider for those who didn't find it so, was their spices were old. I would not substitute anything in this recipe.
Yes, I would agree to give an measurement on the leeks as all are not created equal. Mine were small, so I used 6 leeks.

I was shocked how much liquid this needed also, but if you add the barely and lentils in the order given, yeah, you need the liquid to cook the veggies. Lentils will disintegrate into the soup as they are supposed to, and barley thickens the whole lot up a lot also--stir a LOT towards the end to prevent burning and/or use a flame disperser.

Melissa Clark always uses kosher salt, so if you're not using kosher salt yourself, you need to halve the amount of salt.

Brown rice also works as gluten-free substitute for barley. Or try kasha (lots of flavor!).

As did I. I live in the middle of nowhere, so i'm glad the recipe for baharat was supplied. 'Buy at your local specialty market' -- I laughed out loud.

Delicious & comforting. Followed recipe through step 2 then threw a ham hock, a pound of soaked white beans & rest of ingredients in a crockpot. Turned out awesome! Added squash & lentils during the last hour of cooking which thickened up the stew nicely. Total time 6 hours on high & 2 on low to make sure beans cooked. Made my own Baharat...lovely spices, even my toddler ate it up!

Rebecca, definitely beware of "buckwheat" mixes containing wheat! But PURE "kasha" IS gluten free. Biologically it is completely unrelated to wheat, and doesn't produce the protein gluten. It's a highly nutritious (~20% protein) plant food whose common name may be responsible for some misunderstanding. Interestingly, its proteins differ from those of wheat and other cereal grains (and "pulses" = beans/legumes) in containing all essential amino acids.

I enjoyed making this as well as eating it. Instead of three cups water I added two cups water and one cup Chardonnay. Almost everything is better with a little wine in it.

If you want real-deal 100% kasha, no sneaky mix stuff, get Wolf's brand kasha in the gold and black box. Comes in 4 grades; whole, coarse, medium, and fine.

With some leftovers tonight I served corn tortillas on the side, which worked VERY well. Just FYI.

Doesnkt need the water. Maybe one cup if it boils too fast.

Don't let the liquid amount scare you...its perfect. I subbed short grain brown rice for the barley and sweet potato for the squash. It was the perfect meal for a chilly day.

3 cups of water in the instructions seems a mistake. Water is not shown in the ingredient listing.

I use this baharat blend in Melissa's sheet-pan squash and chickpea recipe.

This really is a terrific stew, and I've fallen in love with baharat since making Melissa's sheet-pan squash and chickpea recipe with it. I had first made baharat for this recipe back in 2016 and then forgot about it--stupid me! I used my own home-cooked chickpeas and farro and swapped farro cooking broth for the water. The stew really does thicken up, and you definitely need a 6-quart Dutch oven.

We followed this recipe to the tee. I have always struggled with how to use fennel and was very worried about the garbanzo beans and lentils. That said this mix of spices, roots, legumes , etc... had excellent flavor, and was very filling. Normally I do not eat a meal without meat. That said, I was exceedingly satisfied after this meal. I would recommend it to anyone.

Had a mess of veg to deal with so added a whole bunch of chopped kale and a red pepper. Swapped onion for leek, delicata for butternut, and carrots for turnips cause that’s what I had. The spice blend makes it impossible to screw this up.

This was amazing! Worth every ingredient and all the chopping. Made the baharat seasoning, which was unique and made the dish. Like others I was skeptical of the amount of liquid, but trust the recipe. I did substitute brown rice for the barley because we have a celiac in the house. This was delicious, and we didn't miss the barley. I also added skinned, bone-in chicken thighs to please the carnivores at the table. Again, absolutely delicious. This will definitely be made several times.

I made this and it’s a really good soup/stew. Substituted Acini di Pepe for the barley and it turned out well.

-used the baharat recipechanges made:-added >1/2t of smoked paprika-added more baharat-added soy sauce-added miso-doubled tomato paste-added few splashes of lemon juice & olive brine-added an additional entire HEAD of roasted garlic

An absolutely divine concoction that can be endlessly adapted/modified. To my taste the critical parts are the spices (Baharat) and the pearled barley which gives a silky texture. This year I opted to add leftover Thanksgiving turkey instead of lentils and it wAs superb!

Absolutely fantastic stew. Made a huge pot and was just as good the next day.

So very tasty. Followed pretty much to the exact recipe except I added some carrots to bulk up on the veggies and I added the lentils with the barley instead of after. My husband and I loved it and it makes a huge pot! Yay for leftovers!

1 tbsp sweet paprika 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander 1 1/2 ground cumin 1 1/2 tsp ground turmeric 1 tsp black pepper 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg 1/2 tsp ground cardamom 1/2 tsp allspice 1/2 tsp cinnamon

This is absolutely delicious . We added lemon at the end which was terrific. Worth the wait!