Chickpea & Kale Curry

It's Sunday, and that means lots of time to cook! (And blog?) I'm going to keep it short today, sharing one of my favorite recipes that carries its weight in the nutrition department as well.

Chickpea & Kale Curry

Time:

1/2 hour + chickpea preparation (overnight if dried)

Ingredients:

Olive Oil

Garlic

2 Onions

Mustard Seed

Curry Powder

Coriander

Cumin

Turmeric

Salt

Hot Pepper

Nutritional Yeast

Kale+

2 Red Peppers

.. any other veggies that you want to add

Chickpeas (dried preferably, or canned)

Steps :

1. Prepare your chickpeas.  If you are using canned chickpeas, that means do nothing :).  However, I would recommend using dried beans whenever possible as you can eliminate all of the sodium that comes with canned veggies.  If using dried beans, soak overnight on the counter in a covered container.  Or, put out to soak in the morning to be cooked in the evening.  About 2 hours before you expect your meal to be ready, drain the beans and boil on high heat for about 5 minutes.  Turn the heat to low, cover, and  cook until soft.

2.  While your chickpeas are cooking, start preparing the curried vegetables.  In a large saucepan, add about 2 tablespoons of oil and 2 teaspoons of mustard seed.  Cook over medium heat.

3.  While the mustard seeds are browning, chop 2 onions.  Add the onions to the saucepan and stir.  Cook until the onions become clear.

4. Add about 1 tablespoon of fresh garlic (more, or less, as you prefer.

5.  Next, its time to add the kale.  Fresh greens tend to become much smaller in volume when cooked, so add more than you think you need.  I used 5 large stalks of kale, and tore them into small pieces directly into the saucepan.

6.  Chop up your 2 red peppers, and add to the mix.  Stir all of the veggies, and turn the stove down to medium/low heat (~ 2 out of 8 on my knob)

7.  It's time to add the spices!  This is of course variable based on your taste, but heres what I added :

        

         

Turmeric :              1 tsp

Hot Pepper :          1/2 tsp

Curry Powder:       1 Tbsp

Coriander:             1 Tbsp

Nutritional Yeast:   1 Tbsp

Salt :                      1 tsp (or as much as you need...)

Cumin :                  1/2 tsp

8.  Let simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes, or until the chickpeas are done.  Add chickpeas and stir!

Serve over rice or with bread/naan.  

I also like to add garnish such as fresh avocado to the top!