Chickpea Curry & A Photo Food Diary

Chickpeas or garbanzo beans, no matter what you choose to call them – they are filling and delicious. Need I mention how versatile these beans are? This recipe had been in my to try pile for some time and I finally got around to trying it.  What a shame I didn’t make it sooner. Simple and easy but big on flavor – my kind of recipe.

This Indian inspired dish isn’t too spicy – it’s just the right balance of spices.

We served it over a hot baked sweet potato but it would be equally delicious over a bed of  your favorite grain like brown rice, quinoa or couscous. If you prefer to skip the extra carbs you could choose to serve it over a bed of cooked spinach or kale. I also made a topping of Raita using a soy yogurt and it turned it really well. The leftovers were just as good as day one. M-m-m-m- so flavorful!

Chickpea Curry

• 1 large onion, cut into medium dice
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, stemmed, seeded, and minced
• 2 teaspoons finely grated ginger
• 1 tablespoon each: garam masala and Thai red curry paste
• 1 teaspoon each: ground cumin and turmeric
• 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups vegetable broth – no salt added
• 2 cans (15 to 16 ounces each) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, plus extra for garnish

Optional

Raita

cilantro, chopped

baked sweet potatoes /cooked rice / quinoa/ couscous

Over medium heat in a soup kettle or Dutch oven add onions with 2 tablespoons water; sauté until tender, adding more water if needed, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, jalapeno, and ginger; sauté until fragrant, about a minute longer. Add garam masala, curry paste, cumin and turmeric; continue to cook until fragrant, just a few seconds. Add tomatoes, broth, and chickpeas; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to simmer to reduce to thick stew consistency, about 15 minutes longer. Stir in cilantro and let stand a few minutes to blend flavors.

To Serve spoon a generous 1 1/2 cup portion of curry over a baked sweet potato, cooked brown rice, quiona or couscous. Top with Raita or plain yogurt and chopped cilantro if desired.

Yield: 4 servings

Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups curry

* Estimated Nutritional Information for curry only not including options

Per Serving; 278.9 Calories, 2.2g Fat, 0mg Cholesterol, 53 g Carbohydrates, 16.3g Fiber, 14.3g Protein

If you want to serve this over baked sweet potatoes, scrub 4 medium size sweet potatoes and poke holes in potatoes using a fork.Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Place potatoes on a large foil-lined baking sheet and bake until fork-tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Recipe Adapted from Three Many Cooks blog.

*The nutritional information and WW PP values posted on Nutmeg Notebook are my best estimates based on the brands of products I use and the software programs used to calculate them. If you rely heavily on the nutritional information and WWPP values I encourage you to double check the values given, using the brands of products you use. If you find big differences feel free to email me or leave me a comment letting me know.

Nutmeg Notes

Hi everyone! I finally carved out some time for an update. I don’t know where the time goes but everyday seems to be over full lately leaving no time for posting.

We are enjoying our Flexitarian food plan and have no problem eating plant based meals.  Notice that I said “we” which means hubby Tom is doing the same. It still shocks me how easily he has made the transition. He does choose to have some meat now and then (more than I do) but it’s not that often. I have only cooked chicken once in the past  two months and have eaten only a few meals away from home that included meat.

I have 5 pounds to lose to be back at my goal weight. Those last 5 pounds always seem to be the most difficult to lose but I will get there!

I thought I would share a day of my food diary with you in photos.

My day starts with a cup of hot green tea and a little something to eat before my morning walk. This day that little something was one of the Flaxseed crackers I make.

After a morning walk I come back and eat the oat and fruit bowl that I mix together when I first get up. It is a mixture of 1/2 cup old fashioned oats, 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, 1 tablespoon chia seeds, 1 tablespoon currants,1 teaspoon walnuts, one banana, 1/2 cup berries and plenty of cinnamon. I don’t cook the oatmeal but it soaks up the almond milk and becomes a delicious muesli type breakfast. I love it!

This is my typical lunch salad. It varies from time to time depending on what fruits and veggies are in the frig. This day it was spinach, baby greens, cucumbers, mushrooms, red onions, tomatoes, raw sliced Brussels sprouts, snap peas, carrots,clementines, red tomatoes and 1/2 cup garbanzo beans. This is all tossed with a nut based dressing (recipe coming soon) that I make in the blender. It takes a good half hour to eat and it keeps me full until dinner. This salad with a nut based dressing clocks in with 21 grams of healthy plant based protein!

I also enjoyed about 1 cup of a very sweet and juicy cantaloupe.

Dinner was a new veggie burger recipe in half a pita (recipe coming soon) some kale and broccoli slaw and fruit salad. I bought the most amazing organic strawberries at the Farmer’s Market this week. They are so sweet it’s like eating candy!

Happy Eating!

Tami

Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question.

Have you tried any new recipes or foods lately?