I made this last night with some substitutions for my wife and daughter. We all thought it was a great meal. My wife loved the spicy kick while my daughter thought it was too spicy. She put some mild cheddar cheese on it to reduce the spiciness. It worked and she loved it. My wife put some "Red Hot Chile Lime Hot Sauce" on her serving. This added even more good flavor to the dish so I'd recommend that as well. Substitutions: 1) Marinated artichoke hearts with frozen artichoke hearts thawed in cold water. Chopped in food processor before adding to stew. 2)2 tbls of wine with 1/2 cup of wine as recommended by other reviewer. Great idea! 3)1 tsp of cumin with 1/2 tsp chili powder. We had no cumin but websites noted that chili powder has cumin as an ingredient and advised that we use half of the requested amount. Omitted: 1) Green Olives - Didn't have any available but would have been omitted anyway due to high sodium content. 2) Sumac Powder - This will be added to my grocery list so that I can experience how this powder actually impacts the dish. If you have kids, I would recommend reducing the red pepper flakes to 1/2 tsp instead of the 1 1/2 requested or just omit. You would then be able to put the amount of flakes you desire on your own serving without having to worry about the spiciness.

Reviewed On: Apr. 22, 2008