A recipe to tickle your taste buds

Sometimes I like to experiment in the kitchen.  Okay, almost every time I cook I experiment....it is basically impossible for me to follow a recipe exactly without adding in my own ideas here and there.  I had a recipe for African Chickpea Stew but didn't have all of the ingredients on hand, so as usual, I started to veer off course.  What happened was the creation of a modified dish that I think is better than the original!

Side note, for the chickpeas I used dried and soaked them in a mixture of vinegar and water overnight before cooking them in the slow cooker the next day.  If you make a big batch of chickpeas, they freeze well so whatever you don't use in the stew can be thrown in the freezer for another time.

Coconut Chickpea Stew

1 onion, diced

3 Tbsp coconut oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 inch fresh ginger, grated

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp salt plus more to taste

3/4 cup stewed tomatoes (or 3 fresh tomatoes cut into chunks)

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk

2 cups homemade chicken stock (you can make awesome chicken stock in a crock pot, recipe can be found here)

3/4 cup cashew butter or peanut butter

2 cups cooked chickpeas

2 handfuls fresh spinach

Rice, millet, quinoa, or cous cous for serving

Heat coconut oil in large pot over medium heat and add onions to sauté.  Once onions are translucent, add garlic, ginger, and spices including salt and sauté for about a minute, stirring constantly.  Add broth, tomato sauce, and coconut milk and stir to combine.  Allow to simmer for a few minutes.  Using an immersion blender, blend the sauce until smooth.  Add chickpeas and simmer for about 5-10 minutes.  Turn of heat and add spinach.  Stir the pot and cover to allow spinach to wilt. Salt to taste and serve over a rice, millet, quinoa, cous cous, etc.