I recently moved to Miami and enrolled my 13-month-old son, Charlie, in day-care for the first time ever! Confirming my trepidation about leaving him in a small, poorly ventilated building with 30 other children, he immediately got sick, forcing me to stay home with him for three days in a row.

Not ideal when you are starting a new job. Or ever, really.

So I immediately Google: “best ingredients for immune health” and ginger, garlic, turmeric, and carrot are some of the top ingredients to appear in the results.

I am always looking for ways to incorporate immune-boosting ingredients into my son’s diet. School is back in session which means kids are picking up and spreading germs on every surface they come in contact with, so naturally boosting my son’s immunity ranks up there in importance with feeding and bathing him.

I was excited to find this Vegetarian Tagine recipe on Weelicious because it includes all of the immune-boosting ingredients mentioned above. This recipe are immune boosting and jam-packed with antioxidants (antioxidants protect your cells from free-radicals, those pesky molecules that play a role in heart disease, cancer, and other ailments), and it is super simple to adjust based on family-specific needs.

While this is a vegetarian recipe, it can easily be modified for those meat-lovers in your life. For my husband, Carlos, who does not feel a meal is complete without an animal protein, I added chicken breast cut into small chunks. I added this at the same time as the butternut squash and it cooked perfectly. This dish was well-received by my husband and I snuck in more than his average daily serving of veggies. Win-win.

For my son, I cooked the meal an additional 10 minutes, until the ingredients were super soft and stew-like. This ensured he could easily gulp down two full bowls with his 7 and a half teeth. He can’t speak yet, but I sensed he was happy with the cuisine judging by his angry growl each time the steady spoonfuls of Tagine were interrupted.

For myself, I swapped the traditional couscous for turmeric pearl couscous as well as some fresh chopped turmeric, which gave the dish a fun pop of bright yellow and extra immune boosting benefits. Just make sure not to eat this while wearing your favorite white shirt. To wash the meal down, I add a few drops of our Forceshield elixir to water as an herb-packed refreshment the whole family can enjoy. Take that, germs.

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

 Weelicious Vegetarian Tagine (serves 6-8)

Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 25 mins

egg free
nut free
dairy free

 Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated or 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks (about 2 cups)
• 2 cups cauliflower florets (1 small head)
• 2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
• 2 cups cooked chickpeas or 1 15-ounce can, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup Raisins or Currants
• 3 cups cooked couscous

Preparation

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.

2. Add the onions and garlic and cook for 3 minutes. 

3. Add the celery, carrots, paprika, cinnamon, cumin, ginger and salt. Cook an additional 5 minutes, until the veggies are soft and the spices are fragrant. 

4. Add the tomatoes, butternut squash, cauliflower, and vegetable broth, and stir to combine.

5. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 15-20 minutes. 

6. Stir in the chickpeas and raisins and cook an additional 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. 

7. Serve over couscous

Thanks Weelicious!