Lately I’ve gotten into kind of a funk with my dinner cooking abilities. I’m finding myself tired and uninspired at the end of the day and reverting to my old favorites that are starting to get a little boring.
Luckily for me, my coworker Madeleine is a culinary school graduate and loves swapping recipes (score!). She found this chickpea and spinach recipe on Smitten Kitchen and swore that it was one of her current faves.
When I heard that the bases for this dish were chickpeas and greens I thought it would be good in a healthy kind of way. Wow, was I surprised! The Spanish-style spices give it serious depth and flavor and the bread mixture feels hearty and warm.
Even my omnivore of a husband thoroughly enjoyed it! I recommend on a cold winter night served on it’s own or on toasted Italian bread sprinkled with olive oil. It also serves well as a cold salad the next day.
Serves 4. Adapted from this Smitten Kitchen recipe See my version of this Spanish-style kale and chickpeas dish below.
Ingredients:
– Two 15-ounce cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
– 6 tblspns olive oil
– 1 head of kale (or any green!), washed and chopped
– A 1-inch slice from a loaf of hard Italian or French bread, crusts removed and cubed
– 1/2 cup tomato sauce (I used bottled Rao’s)
– 4 garlic cloves, minced
– 1/2 tspn ground cumin
– Pinch of red pepper flakes (add more for spice)
– 1 1/2 tblspns red wine vinegar
– 1 tspn paprika
– Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
– Heat half of the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
– Add the kale with a pinch of salt and stir well.
– Remove when the leaves are turn bright green, set aside.
– Heat 2 more tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
– Fry the bread for about 5 minutes or until golden brown all over.
– Add the remaining tablespoon of oil and the garlic, cumin and pepper.
– Cook for 1 minute more or until the garlic is nutty brown.
– Transfer the bread mix to a food processor or blender with the vinegar, and mash to a paste.
– Return the mixture to the pan and add the drained chickpeas and tomato sauce.
– Stir until the chickpeas have absorbed the flavors and are hot.
– Mix in cooked kale.
– Season with salt and pepper to taste.
– Sprinkle with paprika.
– Enjoy!
