Recipe: Mushroom and Chickpea Stew

Chic Peas with pasta was a staple in my families dinners. I only just recently started to soak them overnight and re create them in a stew to rather than eat in humus or patties.

My favorite is with shiitake (immune enhancing) and button mushrooms.

To create this follow the recipe below.

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, diced

• 2 medium carrots, diced

• 3 celery stalks, diced

• 2 garlic cloves, sliced

• 5 shiitake mushrooms

• 1 ½ cup fresh button mushrooms, sliced

• 400g dried chickpeas

• 4 Tbsp tomato paste

• 8 cups of water

• 1-2 cubes low sodium veggie bouillon

• 1 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• 1 tsp fresh rosemary

• 1 tsp fresh thyme

• ½ tsp paprika

• pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Place dried chic peas into a pot covering with water - sit for 4 to 6 hours. then wash and they are ready to use. you can also soak them overnight.

2. To olive oil or butter in a large pot add diced onion, celery and carrot. Sautée the vegetables over medium heat for 3-5 min, adding 1-2 tbsp of water at a time to prevent sticking. Add garlic and tomato paste; stir the mixture until the paste is well incorporated. Add rinsed chic peas and cover with water. Add stock cubes.

3. The goal is to have the soup a little thin at this time because the chic peas will expand a lot during cooking. If your stew mixture looks dry, add more water.

4. Bring the stew to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 60 minutes. Add sliced button mushrooms to the pot, and cook 5-7 minutes longer, or until the chic peas are soft. Once you have taken the soup off the heat stir through the fresh herbs.

5. I like to serve mine with soft polenta.