The First of Many

For all of my life I have had this love for food. I would smell the food, taste the food, then critique it. I just genuinely loved and appreciated everything about it. So, I decided what better way to express my love for food then talk about it. Starting today, I will showcase the food of the week every Thursday and how to make it.
This week’s food of the week is (drumroll please):…. Chickpea stew

My sister, who knows that I recently became a vegetarian, sent me some recipes to switch up my variety of food and I have fallen deeply in love with this one in particular. This combines a fully packed nutritious meal that’s not just filling, but also delicious. The chickpeas are packed with protein and even your most picky eaters, who don’t like veggies will be begging for more. With this simple recipe, you can have dinner done before you know it.
Here’s what you will need:
1 cup chickpeas, dry or two-15 ounce cans chickpeas, drained
1 tbsp olive oil, (1/4 cup water)
1 medium onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 carrot, diced
1 tsp dried parsley(optional)
1/2 tsp dried basil(optional)
1/2 tsp dried oregano(optional)
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 cups liquid from boiled chickpeas, or vegetable broth
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper(optional)
Instructions:

  1. If you are using dried chickpeas, sort, wash and soak them overnight. The next day drain and rinse chickpeas.
  2. Cover with water about 2 inches above chickpeas and bring to boil on medium heat.
  3. Lower heat to simmer and cook until tender, about 1 hour.
  4. Drain chickpeas and reserve 2 cups of liquid, set aside.
  5. If using canned chickpeas, start at step 5.
  6. Heat oil or water in a large saucepan on medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until soft, about 4 minutes.
  7. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds stirring. Add bell pepper, tomatoes, carrots, chickpeas, parsley, basil and oregano.
  8. Add tomato paste and vegetable broth or reserved chickpeas water, cover and bring to boil. Reduce to a simmer for 20-30 minutes or until thickened.
  9. Mash some of the chickpeas, with the back of a fork to thicken stew.
  10. Check seasoning, add cayenne pepper and extra salt and pepper as needed.

I truly believe that this recipe is extremely easy to follow especially since I was able to complete this as a novice cook. I hope that you will find it as delicious as I did when I made it. Until next Thursday have a great week.

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