Surprise! Chickpeas are Delicious

January 3, 2015

GTLF has a way of using ingredients that I don't really think about to create interesting dishes. Growing up in a Mexican household, Chickpeas... garbanzos are typically used in stews my favorite being Cocido which, within my family unit, is typically a beef stew made with a clear broth and plenty vegetables.  My parents always add garbanzos and I always eat them.

When I was in my early twenties I traveled to Israel to live on a kibbutz and discovered Falafel and Humus which are both made with garbanzos.  Before then I never really knew that garbanzos could be so tasty but they are.  Here is a recipe which uses garbanzos prominently and adds apricots.  GTLF uses many dried and fresh fruits in their culinary designs which is yet another thing I never really thought about... I've always eaten fruit on its own and fresh.  Using them in savory dishes has been really interesting and fun.

Chicken with Tomatoes and Chick Peas

GTLF Chicken p 61

Serves 4, working time 20 min., total time 30 min.

1 tsp. olive oil

3/4 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

4 bone in chicken thighs (about 1 1/4 pounds total), skinned

14 1/2 oz. can no salt added stewed tomatoes

2 tablespoons honey

1/2 tsp. salt

1 C orzo or other small pasta

1 C canned chick peas, rinsed and drained

1/4 C chopped dried apricots

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil until hot but not smoking over medium heat.  Add the cumin, coriander, and cayenne and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.  Add the chicken and cook until the chicken is golden brown on all sides, about 5 minutes.

2. Stir in the tomatoes, breaking them up with the back of a spoon.  Add the honey and salt, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cover.  Cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes longer.

3. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling water, cook the orzo until just tender.  Drain well.

4. Stir in the chick peas into the chicken mixture and cook, uncovered, until the chick peas are just heated through, about 2 minutes.  Stir in the dried apricots and parsley.  Spoon the chicken mixture onto 4 plates, place the orzo on the side, and serve.

Nutritional Information:

6g fat, 422 cal, 1.1 g saturated fat, 65g carbohydrate, 26g protein, 67 mg. cholesterol, 448 mg sodium.

Tips

I don't know what the difference is between "bone in" and "boneless" other than the obvious when it comes to chicken.  To me chicken is chicken so I just adjust for boneless... I figured 1 pound boneless skinless is equal to 1 1/4 pound bone in skinless.  They say there is more flavor with bone in chicken but I get irritated playing with bones and it adds to the clean up. 

I live by the time limits on the recipe books and handle the actual cooking food as little as possible. I notice that the less I touch the food in the pan, the better it is.  So if it says to brown on one side for a certain number of minutes I don't touch it until time is up.  This works perfectly and I'm pleased with the results.  It also frees up time so I'm not watching dinner like a hawk to prevent burning and I can do other tasks in between.  Timers are a wonder invention!

I notice that nearly every recipe in this series has parsley so I feel pretty confident buying and keeping parsley in my refrigerator because it gets used.  I might put it in my garden so I have it fresh on hand more often.

In this case, the recipe only calls for 1 cup of garbanzos. I hate waste so I have used left over beans like garbanzos in salads and will occasionally add to plain chicken broth with a little chopped raw onion.  Scallions or red onions are my favorite.