I won't say much about the election, other than bleh. And this week has totally been bleh.
But when life gets tricky and our hearts are heavy, I cook. Something that fills up the emptiness that a hard time brings.
So I sent the hubby off to the market for some pantry staples (that we were out of), specifically cannelloni beans. I was ready to whip up our favorite white bean & spinach soup but when I pulled a few cans of organic chickpeas that he grabbed I was stumped. Hummus I know. Chickpea curry I definitely know. But soup and chickpeas were just not sounding comforting. But sending my sick (heart broken) hubby or going out myself was not happening.
So I took to my favorite flavors and my boyfriend the crockpot and got what I am calling, the cure of the post election blues.
Ingredients
2 lbs Boneless Chicken Breast
2-15 ounce cans chick peas, with water
2 tbsp olive oil,
1 cup water
5 cups of low sodium chicken stock (I used homemade from my freezer)
1 medium onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped
2 cups of crushed organic tomatoes
3 carrot, diced (I used a bunch of baby carrots because we keep them stocked for Zoe!)
1 tsp dried onion powder
2 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 cups liquid from boiled chickpeas, or water
2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp black pepper
Toppings
freshly grated parmesan cheese
brown rice (I love to keep the Frozen Trader Joes brown rice stocked, ready in 3 minutes and a perfect side)
fresh spinach
sriracha
Recipe
Place all ingredients in the crock pot (leave chicken breasts whole)
Cook on low for 6 hours.
Remove chicken breasts, with two forks shred chicken and put aside.
Blend about two cups of chickpeas.
I used my immersion blender until I got the thickness I wanted but you can place 2 cups of the chickpeas into the blender, blend well and return to crockpot.
Return shredded chicken to crockpot and let cook on low for 30 minutes before serving.
Top with spinach, brown rice and lots of parmesan cheese.
I am actually making another double batch tonight to have in the fridge all weekend and freeze half. This is definitely one to add to your crock pot rotation list and can easily be made vegetarian without losing the comforting filling flavor. Let me know what your favorite recipe is with chickpeas!
xo
Natalie
1. Dish Towel Set 2. Dish Towel 3. Gold Silverware 4. Soup Bowl Set 5. White Soup Bowl Set