Craig's Recipes

Chickpea and Hominy Stew

I don't remember where the original recipe came from, but I do know that it tastes good, is low in fat, and high in complex carbohydrates.

Ingredients

2 teaspoons olive oil (this was in the original, but can be omitted)

2 cups diced onion

½ cup minced seeded Anaheim chili (long green fairly mild chili)

4 garlic cloves, minced (I prefer crushed)

2¾ cups water (or 3 cups if you aren't using the olive oil)

1 cup diced tomato

2 (19-ounce) cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained or 1 pound dry

1 (15½ ounce) can white hominy, drained (find it at the market with the canned vegetables)

1 (14½ ounce) can vegetable broth (I like chicken broth, but that certainly isn't vegetarian)

2 cups coarsely chopped spinach (I use a pound of frozen spinach, thawed and drained)

¼ teaspoon pepper

¼ teaspoon ground cumin (This gives this dish a sort of southwestern flavor).

Preparing the Dish

You can replace the cumin with a good Indian curry powder, like Pav Baji (sp.), and the dish is very good that way too.)

Okay, I'm a bean snob, canned beans might be okay, but I prefer dried, the texture and flavor is much better. This recipe will use a pound of dried chickpeas. Wash the dried peas, put them in a large pot with ample water, and bring to a boil. Boil for three minutes, then let them soak overnight. The next day, add water if necessary, then boil them for about 20 minutes. Drain, then they are ready to use in this recipe.

Hominy is basically just a white corn that is very starchy, its what grits are made from. It has been processed in a manner that makes it starchy. Don't substitute corn though, the texture is far different. If you can't find hominy, then you might try substituting cooked gnocchi. Gnocchi can be found with the frozen pastas in your local grocery store. Cook it, let it cool, then use it in place of the hominy -- it is probably easier to just find the hominy, usually in the Hispanic foods section of your grocery store, but sometimes with the canned vegetables.

Heat oil in a large saucepan, I use a large non-stick pot, over medium-high heat. Add onion, chili, and garlic; sauté 1 minute. If you want to omit the olive oil, then in your non-stick pot, put ¼ cup water, and the onion, chili, and garlic, and bring it to a quick boil, until the water is gone.

Add water and next 4 ingredients (water through broth); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.

Remove from heat; stir in spinach and remaining ingredients. Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1½ cups).

Oh yeah, one other thing, if you're not afraid of sodium, then add 1 to 2 teaspoons salt, I think it improves the flavor immensely.

Nutritional Information: CALORIES 271 (17% from fat); I figure it will be about 224 calories without the olive oil). PROTEIN 12.4g; FAT 5.2g (sat 0.6g, mono 1.9g, poly 1.7g) ummm... none without the olive oil; CARB 46.4g; FIBER 7.5g; CHOL 0mg; IRON 4.4mg; SODIUM 638mg; CALC 98mg