Moroccan Chickpea Stew

One easy way to save money on groceries is to shop your pantry first and prepare a meal out of ingredients you already have on hand.  I have been stocking the pantry lately with all these amazing canned food deals at Safeway – everything from canned beans, and tuna, tomatoes and even cartons of broth, so I have all the ingredients needed to make lots of soups and stews.   In an effort to adopt a meatless Monday mantra around here, I wanted to make a recipe that had good protein and lots of amazing flavors, without meat, so this Moroccan Chickpea Stew recipe fit the bill.  You will need to pick up fennel, ginger and some fresh or frozen greens for this recipe, but I found that I had all the other ingredients in my pantry or refrigerator.  The intense flavors of cumin, cinnamon and turmeric are combined with ginger, garlic, onions and the fennel bulb to create the most aromatic dish you can imagine!

Sale ingredients used: Safeway Garbanzo Beans – $.69, Earthbound Farm Organic Spinach – $1.38, Safeway canned tomatoes – $.33, O Organics Broth Carton – $2.50

Moroccan Chickpea Stew

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium yellow or white onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 bulb fennel, sliced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 14.5 oz diced tomatoes
• 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1 15 oz can chickpeas
• 2 large handfuls greens like baby spinach, kale, swiss chard, etc
• For Serving:
• fresh mint or parsley
• preserved lemons or fresh lemon wedge

Directions

Heat pan and add olive oil, onion, garlic, ginger and sweat for 2 minutes.  Add cumin, cinnamon, turmeric to the pan to toast slightly for 1 minute.

Add the sliced fennel and carrots and saute for about 2 minutes.  Add  tomatoes, broth, chickpeas and salt and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes until all vegetables are cooked through and softened.  Add the greens and stir to combine.  The greens will wilt quickly so just cook enough to heat the greens.

Remove from heat and serve with fresh mint or parsley.  You can also add a dollop of sour cream for extra creaminess if you would like.

Thanks to Safeway for the recipe image.  Check out more meal planning ideas based on sales here.