Spiced Chickpeas (Indian Chana Masala)

Today I will offer up two Indian-style dishes.  This first one is borrowed from my friend, Valerie.  It's a recipe that I got from her a long time ago, but for some silly reason I waited until recently to actually, finally make it.  It's wonderful, and all I can say is that I am so sorry that I waited this long to try it.

I really love this recipe – thank you, Valerie!!

Ingredients:

• 1 can of chickpeas
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1-2 cups vegetable stock
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 2 Tbsp tomato sauce (I used Newman's Own organic marinara)
• 4 cloves chopped garlic
• spices of choice (I used salt-1/4 teaspoon, pepper, cumin, cayenne pepper, coriander, parsley, paprika, cilantro, and oregano)

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in shallow pot (I use a small saucier). Add shallot and cook until it starts to become translucent, then add garlic. Continue to cook until garlic is cooked and shallots are translucent and a little brown.
2. Add chickpeas. Next add enough stock so that it is level with the chickpeas.
3. Once the stock begins to simmer, add tomato sauce and spices. Stir occasionally and allow the broth to reduce. Basically, all you are doing now is cooking things down so that the chickpeas and onions get soft and cooked. If you find that things get too dry and the chickpeas are soft enough to your liking, simply add more stock and continue to cook down. This is also a good time to adjust the seasoning and make this dish really your own.
4. It's all done when chickpeas are relatively dry and start to come out of their skins a bit.

The recipe makes about 4 side-dish-sized servings, each with:

• 160 calories
• 6 grams protein
• 17 grams carbs
• 9 grams fat (we could easily reduce the fat by cutting out some of the oil)
• 4 grams fiber
• 308 mg sodium