When it's cold outside and I'm looking for comfort food, I always turn to a bowl stew. There's something so perfect about that hot bowl, especially when it's served up with a side of rice. It warms me up from the inside! The recipe below proves that stews don't have to be chock full of meat, and they don't have to take all day to make, either. This healthy chickpea stew is quick and easy while also being full of vitamins and other nutrients.
You can make your own chickpeas quickly using an Instant Pot, but I always keep a few cans in the pantry just in case. Some nights I don't have time to wait for the Instant Pot to pressurize and de-pressurize, so those cans really come in handy. You can look for the low sodium varieties if you're worried about keeping your salt levels down.
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Chickpea stew
4
10 minutes
25 minutes
35 minutes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow onion, finely diced
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 cup vegetable broth
2 (15 ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
Salt and pepper, to taste
Rice (for serving)
In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and bell pepper and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and Italian seasoning and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add the drained chickpeas and diced tomatoes and bring the mixture to a boil. Add vegetable broth. Reduce the heat until the mixture is simmering. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.
Remove the lid and simmer for an additional 10 minutes, until the mixture has thickened.
Using a potato masher, gently mash some of the chickpeas, leaving about half of them unmashed for texture.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with rice.