Chickpea Olio

Recipe at a Glance:

1 small or medium onion, cut into thin slivers
4-5 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tbs olive oil
2 bunches of Swiss chard, kale, or spinach, stems removed and torn into medium pieces
pinch of kosher salt
1/2 tsp of crushed red pepper (heat to taste, I like lots!)
juice of one lemon
1/4 cup of wine or stock
1 28 oz can of chopped tomatoes*
1 14 oz can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained**

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Utensil/bowl use: Minimal – cutting board, knife, large bowl, large pot, large spoon
Serve for: a hearty, healthy weeknight dinner

While I have my heart set on using this site as a way to “teach” a few of the recipes that pass through my kitchen, this in no way means that I am an expert in it (cue the diaster post of last week). Additionally, I keep no family cookbook or any compendium of recipes that have been passed down over the years. I only know one family recipe by heart and it has the dubious name of “Strawberry Stuff” wherein “Stuff” means a tub of sour cream plus lots of chopped pecans. And because I am also one to try and eat healthily, my memory of this recipe is getting a little rusty and I have my doubts I will be refreshing it any time soon.

So this leaves me trolling the internet for recipes that have an equal mix of ease, health benefits, taste, and last but not least, keep me entertained in the kitchen. Recipes also have to pass Chris’s taste test, which can be difficult considering he met me during a time in his life when he was well into the meat-and-potatoes-make-a-meal camp. Luckily he’s not one to stick his feet in the mud so we have been gradually trying out meals that incorporate greens, beans, and *gasp* no meat.

Upon finding this recipe, I knew I needed to make it immediately. In fact, the biggest deliberation associated with this recipe was what to call it. I don’t care for long, drawn out names of dishes that simply list ingredients. While informative, that sort of convention lacks a certain appeal. Since this dish is sort of a stew, I went looking for several possible synonyms for stew. Chickpea stew was right out because it reminds me of leftover mishmash. I really liked the word salmagundi as a word akin to “stew” but it implies that the dish contains meat. That word was out. My second option was “olio” which means “a dish of many ingredients.” While the phrase “many ingredients” connotes a sense of complexity, I assure you this dish is not hard to make or time consuming. So without further adieu, here is Chickpea Olio:

First, grab your new cookbook. Wait, no. That might be Chris’s iPad. And I might have stolen it to be my new cookbook. It works all too well.

Here’s the real first step. Prep your chickpeas using your method of choice. I used a 1lb bag of chickpeas and soaked them in my crockpot on high for three hours. Otherwise, you can also rince and drain a 14oz can of chickpeas.

Prep your chard, kale, spinach, or whatever greens you may be partial to. Generally when cooking with greens, you want to remove the leaves from the stems and coarsely chop the leaves into bite sized pieces. If you like the stems (which always taste a little bitter to me) you can also chop them and include them in the recipe. Here are my stems, looking better than they taste.

And here is my chard leaves: washed, chopped, and ready to go.

Chop the onion into thin, half-moon slivers.

Get several cloves of garlic. As you can see, I used 6 because I am a garlic fiend. Smash the garlic with something heavy and most-importantly, unbreakable. Like the can of tomatoes used in this recipe.

A few good smashes will make the peel fall off and leave the garlic cloves looking rather juicy and beaten.

Heat the oil on medium heat and begin to saute the onions and garlic.

While the onions and garlic are cooking, add a little fire (or alot if you are me). I’d recommend about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of crushed red pepper for a medium heat. I used closer to a tablespoon.

Mix it all together and let cook for about 5 minutes or until the onions become clear.

Add chard. You might need to add the greens in batches if your pot is too small. The greens will cook down significantly.

Add a pinch of salt to the greens.

Add the juice of one lemon

If the mix is looking a little dry, add a bit of white wine or chicken stock so there is about an inch of liquid in the bottom of the pot.

Cook the greens until they become wilted. Stir to incorporate.

Once the greens have wilted, add the can of tomatoes. I particularly like canned roasted tomatoes and tend to use them at any occasion. Keep the tomato juice, it is tasty.

Add the chickpeas along with the tomatoes.

Mix everything well, reduce heat to low, and cover. A covered pot doesn’t make for a terribly interesting picture so I skipped it.

Let the pot simmer for 15 minutes. Give the mix a taste and adjust seasonings as you want.

Serve immediately and often. This recipe makes for a large pot of food. I froze half of it immediately because it would take us a week to go through this much food. The other half has made for perfect lunches on these cold and wet spring days.

Chickpea Olio (lightly expanded from The Kitchen Sink)

1 small or medium onion, cut into thin slivers
4-5 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tbs olive oil
2 bunches of Swiss chard, kale, or spinach, stems removed and torn into medium pieces
pinch of kosher salt
1/2 tsp of crushed red pepper (heat to taste, I like lots!)
juice of one lemon
1/4 cup of wine or stock
1 28 oz can of chopped tomatoes*
1 14 oz can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained**

Preheat oil in a large saucepan on medium heat. Saute sliced onions and garlic and crushed red pepper for about 5 minutes or until onion turns clear. Add greens and a pinch of salt to pot. Give the greens a brief stir to mix and begin the wilting process. Add the lemon juice while the greens are wilting. If the pot is looking a little dry, add the wine or stock so that there is liquid at the bottom of the pot. Let greens fully wilt and then add the tomatoes with juice and the chickpeas to the pot. Stir to incorporate. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and let simmer for about 15 minutes or until the greens are softened and the chickpeas are heated through. Taste and adjust seasonings as you want.

I served this dish with a dash of parmesan cheese and thick, crusty garlic toast. I may or may not have gone overboard with the garlic.

*I used 2 14oz cans of chopped, roasted tomatoes

**I used a 1 pound bag of dried chickpeas, soaked in my crockpot on high for three hours