Moroccan Chickpea Stew

I made this stew the same weekend as the Cauliflower Soup. I started looking for a chickpea soup recipe because one lonely can of chickpeas had been sitting in my cupboard for a couple months and I had no idea what to do with it. It isn’t quite cold enough for one of my favorite chickpea recipes and I can buy hummus easily. Luckily, I stumbled upon two Chickpea Soup recipes that I thought could be combined to make one great recipe. I loved the spices in the first, but the addition of lentils and rice (and turmeric!) made the second one pretty appealing as well.

This one takes quite a bit of time, but makes enough to last you and some friends the week. If you’re like me, however, and tend to make a couple big dishes to bring as lunch and as a few last-minute dinners, than I think you’ll enjoy this one. 

Moroccan Chickpea Stew

Adapted from Emeril and Dave Lieberman 

You can easily leave the chicken thighs out to make this dish vegetarian. I decided that I wanted lots of and lots of protein – chickpeas, lentils, and chicken – so I kept it in while amalgamating the two Moroccan chickpea stew recipes I found. You can use white or brown rice, I just happened to grab the white rice first when I reached into the cupboard. This may seem like an overwhelming number of spices when you first look at the ingredient list, but each plays a key role in the flavor profile. I happened to have every spice already in my collection, you might be surprised to find you do as well.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2-inch pieces

1 small onion, diced

3 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed

6 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon cumin

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon honey

1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes and their juices

1 quart chicken stock or vegetable broth

1/4 cup dried lentils*

1/2 cup long-grain rice

1 teaspoon lemon juice

* The recipe suggested green, I had brown on hand and used those instead.

Equipment:

Large pot

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and add chicken. Cook until well browned, about 4 minutes. Remove chicken from pot and set aside.

Add the onions and garlic and sauté until the onions are translucent, lowering the heat if the onions begin to brown. Add the spices (turmeric, cayenne, sweet paprika, pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg) and sauté an additional minute. Return the chicken to the pan and add tomatoes, chickpeas, broth, lentils, and honey and bring to a boil. Season with a couple pinches of salt and some fresh black pepper. Bring to a simmer, lower heat to medium-low, and cook at gentle simmer for about an hour.

Add the rice and return soup to a simmer. Cook covered for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and add lemon juice. Serve warm.

Serves 6