Thai Coconut Chickpeas
Since
receiving The Passionate Vegetable I've read the book cover to cover
more than once. One of those books you can sit down with and read like a
novel, Ms. Landry's personality and passion show through her
descriptions and pages of easy to understand information. The recipes
are easy to follow with organized instructions and often a stunning
photo for reference and will have you putting a nutritious meal on the
table that will see your family asking for seconds.
This
curried chickpea recipe was met with raised eyebrows from my kids (we
haven't explored curry much), but left me with clean plates and requests
for more. Sweet, creamy and delicious, I've never been so happy to
finish a photo shoot and eat the props for lunch.
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium sweet potato or yam, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup chopped onion (my addition - not in original recipe)
1 cup bean juice form cooking or vegetable broth or water
1 Tbs curry seasoning (I used about 3/4 tsp red curry paste)
2 cups precooked chickpeas
1 15 oz can light coconut milk
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
garnish with a sprinkle of unsweetened shredded coconut if desired
IN
a medium sized frying pan, sauté garlic and onion in oil for 2-3
minutes on medium heat. Add the sweet potato, juice or broth, and the
curry. Cover and simmer for 5-8 minutes or until potato is almost
tender (ours took about 10 min).
Add chickpeas, coconut
milk and salt. cover and simmer on medium-low for 5 minutes. Add
cilantro and basil and simmer again for another 2 minutes, just long
enough to wilt herbs.
Serving suggestion:
Serve with a whole grain such as brown basmati rice or Naan bread - an
Indian flat bread that is similar to a pita. Alwasy serve a green
vegetable with a wholesome meal. There is plenty of protein,
carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and some good quality fat in this
dish. Serving a light salad or steamed broccoli will finish it off
nicely.
We served our Chickpeas over Whole Wheat Cous Cous.
Makeover:
Leftovers can be made into a quick soup by blending some of the beans
to a paste and then adding additional broth and curry. Actually, any
leftover bean dish is a great beginning for a soup.
Note: Recipe and directions are from The Passionate Vegetable with the exception of the onion and coconut garnish.
