Spicy Chickpea Stew

Courtesy of Weight Watchers

If you buy baby eggplants (I did) or Japanese eggplants, you can skip the usual salting step.

1 1/2 lb eggplant cut into 1/2" cubes
4 t olive oil
1 T minced onion
1 T minced carrot
1 T minced celery
1 T grated peeled gingerroot
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 T raisins
1/4 t cinnamon
1 t ground cumin
14.5 oz canned diced tomatoes
1/4 t hot sauce
16 oz can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 fresh or frozen peas
2 T chopped parsley
1.5 C cooked couscous

Makes 4 servings, 7 pts/serving

In a large skillet (I used my dutch oven), heat the oil. Saute onion, carrot and celery until wilted, about 5 min. Add the ginger and garlic, saute 30 sec. Add eggplant and saute about 5 min or until beginning to soften. Stir in raisins, cumin and cinnamon and stir well. Add tomatoes and hot sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 min. Add water if stew becomes too thick. Stir in chickpeas and green peas and simmer 10 min. Stir occasionally. Sprinkle with parsley and serve over couscous.

*I almost never make a recipe exactly as it is written. I omitted the celery and carrots and replaced them with a mix of red and yellow peppers. I also upped the qty to about 1 C and did about 1/4 C onion. I used about 1/3 to 1/2 C raisins (1 T of raisins? You may as well not bother). And, because I was out of couscous, I used a mix of Israeli cousous, red quinoa and baby chickpeas from TJs. Lastly, I skipped the hot sauce and used diced tomatoes with chipotle peppers. Just the right amount of heat and flavoring and not too sweet or savory. We ate this with whole wheat dinner rolls but could have used naan.

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