My grandmother started making the Peace Tagine when I was about 10. She always cooked prayers and made designs in the food for her guests. She liked to make a statement through her food instead of her words. She was a quiet woman but her faith was ­fierce. People felt healed by her cooking and would request a dish if they or someone they knew was ill.

Ingredients

3 large kosher chicken breasts

1 bottle, orange blossom water

1 knob of turmeric, shredded

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

1 tablespoon Celtic sea salt

7 cloves of garlic, minced

2 preserved lemons, sliced

1 cup carrots

1 cup broccoli

1 cup cauliflower

7 or 14 dried apricots depending on size of the Tagine. (Must be either 7 or 14.)

Directions

Rinse the chicken breast and pat dry. Put in a bowl, cover with orange blossom water, and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Grind salt, pepper, garlic, and turmeric together to create a spice mix.

Toss vegetables and preserved lemons with half of the spice mix

Put the other half of the spice mix on the bottom of the Tagine.

Lay chicken breast on top of spices in the Tagine.

Pour the vegetable mix on top.

Arrange apricots in the shape of a peace sign.

Cover the Tagine and cook on the stove for 20 minutes, until done.