Moroccan Eggplant & Chickpea Stew

[Libby]

Moroccan Eggplant & Chickpea Stew

Recipe Description

Tasty & fragrant (spicy?) vegetarian type stew. Good enough to eat on its own or served over rice/pasta/mashed potatoes/couscous or pita bread.

This dish makes me feel like I've traveled to an exotic place w/o leaving the comfort of my own home

Preparation Steps:

Wash & dice 4-5 small (2-3 med) eggplants into small bite sized cubes, sprinkle salt over top and let sit in a colander for an hour to drain excess liquid and help remove bitterness.

Non vegetarian addition - optional:
brown 1/2lb - 1lb of ground pork, beef or chicken/turkey. (I used pork)

Level of Difficulty:

Easy

Time Needed:

30 - 45 mins (not incl 1 hr eggplant prep time)

Ingredients:

4 small eggplants
1 med-large onion
3-5 cloves of garlic
1 can chick peas - drained & rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes - drained
1c vegetable stock (or chicken if you're using ground meat)
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
Sat & Pepper to taste

Serves:

6 x 1 cup servings

Directions:

Prep the eggplant - wash well and dice into small bite sized cubes, sprinkle with salt and let sit in a colander (this helps drain excess liquid and remove bitterness)

Chop onion, mince garlic.

Saute onion in 1-2 tbsp olive oil until translucent (about 3-5mins) then add minced garlic, stir and let sit for a min or two.

Add chili powder, cumin, cinnamon and cayenne. Stir well to coat evenly. (You can adjust spices to your desired strength) Cook for another 2 minutes over med heat.

Optional: Add ground meat to the onion/garlic mixture if you wish and brown til cooked through.

Add diced eggplant, canned diced tomatoes and drained & rinsed canned chickpeas along with the stock.

Simmer over low-med heat covered for 15 - 25 mins (depends on stove) until eggplant cubes are very tender.

Uncover and stir. If stew looks soupy, let the liquid bubble away for a few more minutes uncovered. If looks too thick, add a splash or two of chicken stock and re-simmer gently til warmed through and desired consistency is reached.

Add salt and pepper to taste at the end. Serve over rice/pasta/couscous/mashed potatoes or eat as is in a bowl w/pita bread to dip.

I found that no matter how much I increased the amount of spices...I needed salt to help bring those flavours out. Normally I don't add salt to my cooking.

Freezes well.

Note: I didn't have any canned tomatoes on hand. I made my own from less then fresh tomatoes in the fridge.

[HappyMama]

This sounds delicious, I have to try it. Thank you so much.

[Palooka]

Sounds wonderful!!

[Darlene]

Salt really does take many dishes to the next level. Thanks for the recipe, reminds me I missed growing eggplant in my garden this year. Time to scout some out in the store & make this.