Coconut and Chickpea Stew over Quinoa

Over the past few years I've seen many recipes calling for coconut milk and I never understood the hype.  It reminded me of the days when my mom and I would make virgin pina colodas before watching TGIF, and of course, 20/20 with Hugh Downes and Barbara Walters.  Turns out that the drink calls for the classic Coco Lopez Cream of Coconut while the popular food dishes call for coconut milk.  My bad.

Anyway, I found this recipe on The Kitchn and adapted it to what I had in my actual kitchen and with items I could quickly pick up from the grocery store (i.e. coconut milk).  The result was a somewhat spicy, flavorful meal that yielded several servings that got better over time. 


Coconut and Chickpea Stew over Quinoa

2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 inches of fresh ginger root, chopped
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 14oz can diced tomato
2 tbsp lemon juice
Dash cumin
Dash cayenne pepper
Dash black pepper
1 15oz can chickpeas
1/2 lb frozen chopped baby spinach
1 15oz can coconut milk
1 tsp ground ginger
salt to taste
handful of chopped cilantro

Heat olive oil in a deep pan and once hot, saute garlic, ginger root, and yellow onion for about five minutes.  Add the tomatoes (kept in their juice), lemon juice, cumin, cayenne and black pepper and saute for another three minutes.  Next, add the chickpeas and the spinach and continue heating until the chickpeas are slightly brown and spinach is warm and not frozen.

Next, add the coconut milk, ginger, and salt and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, simmer for 15 minutes.  Add the cilantro to taste. 

I HIGHLY recommend eating this dish with Near East Quinoa Blend (a blend of Quinoa and Brown Rice) in the Roasted Red Pepper and Basil flavor.  De-lish!

P.S. I added fresh avocado to my leftovers...I highly recommend this, too!