Chickpea Ratatouille

Much of the feedback that I have received from readers relates to how easy a lot of my posted recipes are to prepare. You're thankful of that because you, like me, like to have lives outside of the kitchen. Although I am that weird kind of person that actually enjoys coming home from a long day at work and cooking dinner, I don't want the meal preparation to take up the entire evening. Even better, I'd like to dirty as few dishes as possible while I am in the kitchen. Better still, I'd like to prepare something on Sunday and have it keep in the refrigerator for an appetizing dinner I can reheat during the week. This is where a delicious dish with a strange name makes perfect sense.

Ratatouille (pronounced rat-a-too-ee) is a traditional French vegetable stew. It is usually made with eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, onions and spices and is known for its versatility: it can be eaten alone or as a side dish, served over pasta, over crusted bread, as a filling in crepes, in eggs, etc. It's also a great way to use up an abundance of vegetables.

This version of ratatouille is a little different in that chickpeas are the predominant ingredient and the cider vinegar gives it a subtle tang that complements the additions of ginger, honey and allspice. I normally serve this over rice to make a more filling meal and make the stew stretch over a few weekdays, but part of the fun of making a ratatouille is finding creative ways serve it.

Chickpea Ratatouille

3 cups canned chickpeas (2 14.5 oz cans is a good equivalent)

1 red onion, finely chopped

3 - 4 garlic cloves, minced

28 oz can of diced tomatoes, undrained

1 red or orange bell pepper, chopped

2 tbsp cider vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp freshly grated ginger (or about 1 tsp ground ginger)

2 tsp honey

2 tsp ground yellow mustard seed

2 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried rosemary

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp allspice

Freshly ground pepper to taste

2 bay leaves

1.) Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2.) Mix all ingredients in ONE bowl

3.) Transfer to a baking dish (I use a 2-1/2 quart dish)

4.) Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, stir, and bake for 30 to 45 minutes more

5.) Remove bay leaves  before eating

Notes:

This recipe calls for a lot of dried herbs and spices. To save money, I generally buy my spices from a local bulk health food store. It's almost always cheaper than buying the jars in the grocery store. I re-use the small plastic containers they measure the spices into and sometimes I only buy a small amount if it's not an ingredient I use a lot (I mean, who really goes through a whole spice jar of mace quickly?). If you don't live near a bulk store like this, I also have found that World Market stores generally sell a decent selection of bagged spices for reasonable prices.