(16) Moroccan Chickpea Stew

This one's a shout out to my veggie friend, Paige, who's inspired me to add more meatless mains to the rotation!!

This was INCREDIBLY flavorful and filling! I loved the different textures - hard chickpeas mixed with the soft tomatoes and potatoes. Our bowls were closer to 2c/serving - for only 250 calories!? Woohoo! I kept some of the seeds in the jalapeno so it would have a little kick (we like it spicy!), but if you're not a spicy fan, just take all the seeds out. This took 45 minutes from start to finish (which, coincidentally, was the time that it took the brown rice to cook in the microwave!). I was going to make green beans, but got lazy, and I'm glad. It didn't need a side, although a nice piece of naan or some sort of flatbread would have been yummy!

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Moroccan Chickpea Stew

Source: Cooking Light Magazine, November 2007
Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 1/3 cups stew, 1/2 cup rice, and about 1 tablespoon yogurt)

Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve over whole wheat couscous instead of brown rice, if you prefer. For milder heat, seed the jalapeño.

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup diced yellow onion (about 1 medium)
1 cup diced carrot (about 1 large)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, minced
1 1/2 cups cubed peeled Yukon gold potato, about 1 large
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (15 1/2-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
1 (14-ounce) can organic vegetable broth (such as Swanson Certified Organic)
3 cups hot cooked brown rice
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, garlic, and jalapeño to pan; sauté 6 minutes or until tender. Stir in potato and next 7 ingredients (through broth). Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until potato is tender. Serve over rice. Top with yogurt.

Wine note: With spicy ethnic cuisine, seek out the German grape gewürztraminer, which yields wines with floral and lychee aromas, as well as natural sweetness that makes a perfect foil to the jalapeño and cumin in the stew. Chateau St. Jean Gewürztraminer 2006 ($15), from Sonoma, California, offers classic honeysuckle and melon aromas, with a spice-friendly sweetness and snappy acidity that adds texture to the dish. -Jeffery Lindenmuth

CALORIES 251 (14% from fat); FAT 3.8g (sat 0.6g,mono 1.9g,poly 1g); IRON 2.2mg; CHOLESTEROL 1mg; CALCIUM 97mg; CARBOHYDRATE 47.5g; SODIUM 401mg; PROTEIN 7.3g; FIBER 6.8g

(72) Eggplant Parmesan

Yum yum yum yum yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. We got some eggplant from our friends' gardens. They gave us a purple one and 3 white ones! Have you ever seen a white eggplant? Me either... check it out!


You slice it thin (please, slice it thin and uniformly or you'll be cursing like me...) and then soak it in a pot of water. I couldn't figure out how to make it stay submerged, so I rigged up a weight using a small plate and my meat hammer!


You bake it in the oven to crisp it up - I had to do more like 7 minutes per side to get it crispy!


I imagine you could use jarred sauce, but this recipe was really very easy. I used about 3/4 of it in the eggplant and used the other 1/4 of it to put over some angel hair pasta. The sauce was very flavorful!!

When you're done layering and baking - this is the cheesy goodness that you end up with!! Even the baby gave it two (messy) thumbs up! I will be making this one again!!



Here's the recipe - it was already on my website, made and reviewed by my friend Jill! Enjoy!

PS: I made the recipe as written - I thought the amount of basil and oregano was fine for my tastes!!