Middle Eastern Chickpeas with Spinach
From Moosewood Restauarant's Low-Fat Favorites
Gwen gave me a chickpea recipe 2 years ago that was almost exactly like this, minus the spinach, but when I asked for it again recently she had no recollection of it. I think this might actually be the same recipe, and maybe she just left out the spinach part? Either way, I liked her recipe, and I liked this one, too. The book recommends serving it over orzo, with the sauce on top. I just ate it by itself with the sauce.
Sauce:
2/3 cup plain nonfat yogurt
1 small garlic clove, minced or pressed
1 tsp chopped fresh mint
dash of salt
Beans:
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tsp olive oil
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cubed
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
pinch of saffron
1 1/2 cups canned chickpeas, with liquid reserved (16 oz can)
10 oz fresh spinach, rinsed, stemmed, coarsely chopped (2 average-sized bags of the prewashed stuff from the grocery store)
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
salt and ground black pepper to taste
Cooked orzo (optional)
Combine the yogurt, garlic, mint and salt in a bowl and set aside to blend the flavors.
In a large skillet, saute the onions in the oil on medium heat until softened, about 6-8 minutes. Add the bell pepper, coriander, cumin, and saffrom, and continue to saute for 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the chickpeas and 1/4 cup of their liquid and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the peppers are just tender, adding more of the reserved liquid if necessary. Add the spinach and cook, stirring often, for 2-3 minutes, until the spinach is bright and wilted. Stir in the lemon juice and add salt and pepper.
Serve immediately over orzo, topped with the yogurt sauce.
Gwen gave me a chickpea recipe 2 years ago that was almost exactly like this, minus the spinach, but when I asked for it again recently she had no recollection of it. I think this might actually be the same recipe, and maybe she just left out the spinach part? Either way, I liked her recipe, and I liked this one, too. The book recommends serving it over orzo, with the sauce on top. I just ate it by itself with the sauce.
Sauce:
2/3 cup plain nonfat yogurt
1 small garlic clove, minced or pressed
1 tsp chopped fresh mint
dash of salt
Beans:
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tsp olive oil
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cubed
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
pinch of saffron
1 1/2 cups canned chickpeas, with liquid reserved (16 oz can)
10 oz fresh spinach, rinsed, stemmed, coarsely chopped (2 average-sized bags of the prewashed stuff from the grocery store)
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
salt and ground black pepper to taste
Cooked orzo (optional)
Combine the yogurt, garlic, mint and salt in a bowl and set aside to blend the flavors.
In a large skillet, saute the onions in the oil on medium heat until softened, about 6-8 minutes. Add the bell pepper, coriander, cumin, and saffrom, and continue to saute for 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the chickpeas and 1/4 cup of their liquid and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the peppers are just tender, adding more of the reserved liquid if necessary. Add the spinach and cook, stirring often, for 2-3 minutes, until the spinach is bright and wilted. Stir in the lemon juice and add salt and pepper.
Serve immediately over orzo, topped with the yogurt sauce.
Oh yum. That sounds really good.
ReplyDeleteWonder if I could get Gaby to eat chick peas.
I bet it would also be good over the brown basmati rice I've got in the pantry, too.
I'm sure it would. I even thought it was good just on it's own.
ReplyDeleteI make something like this and I LOVE it LOVE it LOVE it.
ReplyDeleteFunny thing - I have a container of it in my fridge right now and a few days ago when I heated some up for lunch, I added spinach and I liked it. I must have been cosmically influenced by you!