Spicy Chickpea and Aubergine Stew

Disclaimer: I have made this before.

I know I wanted to try new recipes but here's the deal, it was a Friday and I'm usually pretty beat by Friday evenings. I took this into consideration when meal planning so I chose this with the expectation that I would be tired and would want something quick and easy. This recipe stepped up to the plate! Specifically our dinner plates.

If you don't know, an aubergine is an eggplant. 'Aubergine' is mostly used in Europe and all those countries whose patronus is not a bald eagle. 'Merica! When reading up on the difference between the two words, I learned that there are white and green eggplants! Did you know that?! I didn't know that. So, how does that relate to the color 'eggplant'? I mean, now that I know there are different colors of eggplant, I can't use that word to describe a color. I just can't! There's no turning back, my life has been forever changed.

This recipe changed my life, y'all.

The ingredients

1 aubergine, cubed. The recipe called for three but we're a family of four, there's no need for that much food.

1 cup chickpeas, soaked overnight. I used canned chickpeas because of convenience.

4 tbsp olive oil

3 garlic cloves, chopped

2 large onions, chopped. I used one because of heartburn.

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground coriander. By now you know of my hatred of coriander in herb form but as a spice, it doesn't bother me. While it has the consistency of dirt, it doesn't taste like it when it's ground up. I just felt the need to explain this.

Chopped tomatoes. The recipe called for three 14 oz cans but I like fresh tomatoes and they're supposed to be better for you and I want you to be healthy!

Salt and pepper to taste

Cooked rice

Soak the aubergines for at least thirty minutes in salt water to remove the bitterness.

Prepare the chickpeas according to the can, i.e. heat them up.

Heat the oil and add the garlic and onion and cook until soft. Add the spices and stir. Add the aubergines and stir to coat with the spices and onions. Cook for five minutes. Add the tomatoes and chickpeas, season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for twenty minutes. Serve over rice.

Told y'all it was easy!

I love this dish not just because of its simplicity but because in spite of it, it's extremely flavorful. Cumin is my favorite spice and when combined with cinnamon and coriander, it's slightly sweet. The crispness of the chickpeas is a great contrast to the sponginess of the eggplant and both offer different nuttiness. Then the tomatoes kinda bring it all together with slight tang.

So Greek week is over. I wish I would have paid attention to the title of the cookbook because had I done so, I probably wouldn't have used it. There are a few Greek recipes but most of the ones in the book and about half of the ones I prepared are Mediterranean, not specifically Greek, For instance, this recipe is Lebanese. Many of the Greek recipes in the book involved fish and, um, it's January in Texas. Not a lot of access to fresh fish right now. I'll look at ingredients more when choosing future cuisines and keep access to those ingredients in mind.

With that being said, we're going to Finland this week! Yes, Finland eats a good amount of fish. I'll be visiting the fish market tomorrow.

Cheers!