Chickpea, Sweet Potato & Spinach Stew

Pinterest: a total time suck which houses a collection of awesome projects I will never actually complete. This is also the place where I have a gazillion recipes stashed- everything from clean eats to not-so healthy! 

Last week however, I stumbled up this recipe for Chickpea, Sweet Potato & Spinach Stew from one of my favorite eat clean website The Gracious Pantry and I just knew I had to try this one out. 

So a little backstory...A couple weeks ago, I was sent a very cool & powerful food blender to try out (yes! more coming on this soon) and one thing I love to make is homemade hummus. Since this was going to my first recipe in the fancy new blender, I wanted to try soaking my own chickpeas vs. using canned. 

Soaked and dried chickpeas

a sneak peak at my homemade hummus 

I WILL NEVER AGAIN EAT A CANNED CHICKPEA. ever. I never realized how easy it is to prep my own chickpeas and they taste amazing--without all the garbage in the canned variety. They have a much nuttier flavor that I am totally digging! 

So when I saw another recipe featuring chickpeas, this was an added meal to the weekly menu. 

Things I loved about this recipe-it was clean, it was simple to make, it featured ingredients I always have on hand and it was a veggie based meal, which I am trying to incorporate into more meals. 

Now, a few notes of change on how I prepared this recipe.

-I was out of tumeric so I just added a bit more curry.

-I used MORE ginger than called for in the recipe. I love ginger. 

-I did not add the fresh baby spinach to the stew. I added a GIANT handful of spinach to each serving bowl and put the soup/stew directly on top of the spinach leaves. 

It tasted even better the second day for lunch!!

Clean Eating Chickpea, Sweet Potato and Spinach Stew

Prep: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 25 minutes. Serves: 6 to 8

Ingredients:

• 2 (19 ounce) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 2 (28 ounce) cans whole tomatoes, including juice
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed into 1 inch pieces
• 6 cloves of garlic, crushed and minced fine
• 2 cups packed baby spinach
• 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon curry
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Pinch red pepper flakes, optional
• Cilantro, to taste and for garnish

Directions:

1. Over medium heat in a large skillet, sauté onions in olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the curry, turmeric, cumin, garlic, ginger, salt, and pepper; stir and sauté 1 to 2 minutes more.
2. Meanwhile, microwave the cubed sweet potato, uncovered, about 4 to 5 minutes depending on size of cubes. Stir several times to ensure even cooking.
3. Add the chickpeas and tomatoes and stir. Bring to a low simmer and cover for 10 minutes. (Add the sweet potatoes once they are fork tender).
4. Remove the lid and add up to 1/4 cup of water (to your desired consistency). Simmer 5 minutes more.
5. Off heat, add spinach until wilted. Garnish with cilantro.

Notes:

1. You can substitute frozen spinach, but be sure to squeeze out all water.
2. This dish is complimented by fresh coriander. Add up to several tablespoons in the last few minutes of cooking.
3. This recipe can easily be halved and still feed a family.
4. This recipe can be frozen once cooled completely. For best results, defrost in the refrigerator and warm over medium heat.

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This recipe is perfect for a post fall run or bike!!

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