Spicy Moroccan Chickpeas
sounds sexy, doesn’t it?
Well it tastes amazing! And for a day i had, where i finally was home, i finally had food in the house, and time to cook it and 3 of the 4 recipes i picked turned out like … like.. just bleh…
This little ditty, put the spring in my step and the mmm on my tongue!
Slurp! I’m almost ready to make another batch – if i only i had more cans of chick peas… oh wait – i do have dry ones… hmmm…
So i was going to update the original CL recipe with what i changed, but i changed a ton, so click here if you want to see the original!
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons special olive oil (hint of black pepper and a kick at the end – pic below)
- 3 large garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
- 1/2 cups thinly sliced red onion, and some chopped
- 4 dried apricots, sliced (it’s what i had!)
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon rind (skip it next time)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
- 1 (28-ounce) can no-salt-added whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped – (i’d go with petite diced next time)
- 6 cups kale, torn into 1-inch pieces
- 10 cilantro leaves
Preparation
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add garlic; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove garlic from pan using a slotted spoon; discard or reserve for another use. Add onion and next 6 ingredients (through cinnamon stick) to pan; sauté for 7 minutes or until the onion is lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Add 1/2 cup water, rind, juice, chickpeas, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in kale; simmer for 20 minute or until escarole wilts. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with cilantro
As usual i made this my own and i thought it was fantabulous! The lemon was a bit overpowering, and tamed a bit as i ate left overs, all week long!
I would definitely chop all the red onion next time – thin stringy onions are just weird to eat. remind me of… yup i’m gonna say it …. worms!
The apricot – slice super duper thin! I liked what they added to the dish, maybe if i had more next time I’d use more! Maybe 1/2 cup pre- slicing…
Kale was great in this dish, and hubby even ate it! Got some antioxidants and other good for you stuff!
Original recipe called for mint – maybe that would have cut the lemon, but i didn’t think it needed it.
This is a keeper!