serves 4 Vegetarian

1 onion chopped
1 leek washed & sliced
1 kilo squash or pumpkin, peeled & cut into 2cm chunks
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 carrot, diced
2 stalks celery sliced (reserve some leaves for garnish)
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp tomate frito (tomato puree not paste)
7 or 8 dates, stoned & chopped
200 gr cooked red beans(about 1/2 a jar/tin) drained and rinsed
100 gr barley
a squeeze of lemon juice
1/2 tsp harissa paste (or any chilli paste or cayenne pepper)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
1 /4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp Ras-al Hanout (a Moroccan spice mix) optional
1 tsp sumac (a crushed dried berry which has a smokey lemony flavour) optional
750 ml veg stock
salt & black pepper
the juice of 1 mandarin
toasted almonds chopped
a handful of mint, coriander & parsley chopped and the reserved celery leaves
some feta crumbled or greek yoghurt