Vegan Chickpea Curry

My dear beautiful amazing readers,
I am SO sorry for my brief interval in posting! I came down with the evilest, roughest, stay-in-bed-for-three-days-and-shut-the-blinds case of the stomach flu. It was miserable, so if you have gotten a case of this bug going around, MAN, do I feel for you! And if you haven’t, then god bless your little head and may you use plenty of hand sanitizer in the coming weeks, and avoid eating anywhere that the health standards are questionable. Because I wouldn’t wish that illness on my worst enemy! sheesh!

Anywho, on to some of the delicious food I made a few weeks ago, that was so good! It was a chickpea and vegetable curry that I slow-cooked all day and man was it tasty! I have been trying to implement more vegetarian meals because 1) it’s cheaper a lot of the time! and 2) it’s definitely better for you than eating meat 7 days a week! Trust me, your GI tract WILL thank you! I have to keep the fiance happy however, and slip in a few veggie meals in between some meatier ones during the week, which I can live with.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups (1/4-inch-thick) sliced carrots
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1-2 jalapeños, seeded and minced
2 (15 oz) cans garbanzo beans (or chickpeas) drained & rinsed
1 medium cubed peeled potato (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 diced red bell pepper
2 cups frozen green beans
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
4-5 cups vegetable (or chicken for non-vegans)broth
3 cups fresh baby spinach
1 can unsweetened coconut milk
about 1 tsp chili flakes, or to taste.

Start by sautéing your onion and carrots in olive oil in a medium saucepan or skillet over medium heat. Give it say, five or six minutes, or until the carrots are slightly tender.

Then add curry, sugar, ginger, garlic, cayenne, and jalapeno. Stir constantly for about 1 minute. Place this mixture into your slow cooker. *By the way, for some reason(?!) at this point in my life, I do not have a slow cooker. So I have been getting away with using my favorite extra big soup pot, covered, on extra extra low, as you can see in the pictures. You can probably get away with this too, if you too are in the same crockpot-less boat!*

Add chickpeas, potato, bell pepper, green beans, salt, pepper, tomatoes, and broth. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. About 10-20 minutes before serving, stir in coconut milk, spinach, and chili flakes. Taste for seasoning and serve over rice.

*Note: if you are not big into spicy things, you can leave out the cayenne and chili flakes. This was not that spicy in the end due to all of the broth, but had a nice flavorful kick!

*Extra Side-Note: Mom, please do not buy me a crockpot. I love you!

Tags: bean, bell pepper, carrot, cayenne, chickpea, chili, coconut milk, cooking, crockpot, curry, dairy-free, delicious, easy, garlic, ginger, gluten-free, green bean, healthy, indian, milk, nutritious, onion, pepper, recipe, recipes, slowcooker, spinach, tomato, Vegan, vegetarian, winter, yummy