Moroccan Chickpeas With Chard
Updated Feb. 29, 2024
- Total Time
- 2½ hours, plus overnight soaking
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 4tablespoons olive oil
- 2Spanish onions, chopped
- 1large jalapeño pepper, seeded if desired, chopped
- 4garlic cloves, minced
- 1teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
- 2½teaspoons kosher salt, more to taste
- 1teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1teaspoon sweet paprika
- ¾teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½teaspoon ground cumin
- ½teaspoon ground black pepper
- Pinch of cayenne
- 2tablespoons tomato paste
- 1fennel bulb, diced (save fronds for garnish)
- 1very large bunch chard, stems sliced ½-inch thick, leaves torn into bite-size pieces
- 2carrots, peeled and diced
- 1large turnip, peeled and diced
- 1pound dried chickpeas, soaked overnight in water to cover or quick-soaked (see Tip)
- ⅓cup diced dried apricots
- 2tablespoons chopped preserved lemon, more to taste
- ½cup chopped cilantro, more for garnish
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
346 calories; 11 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 52 grams carbohydrates; 11 grams dietary fiber; 15 grams sugars; 15 grams protein; 585 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oil in a large pot over high heat. Add onion and jalapeño and sauté until limp, 3 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, salt, turmeric, paprika, cinnamon, cumin, black pepper and cayenne and sauté until they release their fragrance, about 2 minutes. Add tomato paste and sauté for another minute, until darkened but not burned. (If tomato paste looks too dark too quickly, lower heat.)
- Step 2
Add fennel, chard stems, carrot and turnip and continue to sauté until vegetables start to soften, about 10 minutes. Add chickpeas and water to barely cover.
- Step 3
Return heat to high if you lowered it and bring to a simmer. Partly cover pot, lower heat to medium low, and simmer for about 1½ to 2 hours, until chickpeas are softened. Add more water if needed (this should be like a stew).
- Step 4
Add chard leaves, apricots and preserved lemon to pot and continue simmering until chard is tender, about 5 minutes longer. Season with more salt if desired, and serve garnished with cilantro and reserved fennel fronds.
- To quick-soak chickpeas, bring them to a boil in water to cover by 1 inch. Turn off the heat and let soak for 1 hour. Drain.
Private Notes
Comments
Superb: delicious, healthy, economical. The recipe yields a great deal of food and it freezes well. Lots of opportunities to substitute here while staying true to the spirit of the dish: Try this with spinach if you've no chard; sub squash for turnip, etc. if you don't have preserved lemons on hand, simmer a diced lemon in a little olive oil, salt and sugar until it caramelises; stir in near the end of cooking.
Folks, as an FYI: You can cook dried chickpeas in bulk and then freeze them, for the convenience of canned minus the downsides. Also, after soaking my dry chickpeas overnight, I just put em in my Zojirushi rice cooker on the brown rice setting, water just to cover, and let em do their thing while I'm at work....
Use canned chickpeas. Dried ones were still not quite tender after 2 hours. Use modified version of Mark Bittmans recipe for preserved lemons. Dice organic lemon and mix with 2 teaspoons sugar and 1 teaspoon salt. Let stand at room temperature for a few hours. Sunsweet brand apricots were wonderful.
This needed more umami and a little less cinnamon. I used chickpeas I had cooked in the instant pot until ALMOST done, so the dish didn’t cook as long as the recipe specified— maybe that’s why it lacked a little complexity. It was much better the next night, in part because I added a shallot and garlic mixture I had leftover from another dish. My husband doesn’t like sweet dinner entrées, and he not a fan so I probably won’t make this again— though he allowed that it was better the second night. Also, I agree with people who said it should have more chard.
Outlier opinion: this dish needs more umami (despite the onions). It needs a darker note to complicate the sweetness. I hope I can doctor it tonight, because we have an awful lot of leftovers (some of which are already in the freezer). Maybe it's because I cooked the chickpeas separately in a pressure cooker and added them for the last 10-15 minutes. I like it ok, but it decidedly does not float the boat of my spouse.
It was worth all the chopping and dicing! Wonderful depth. I added more Chard and more preserved lemon. Definitely will be on rotation! The next day melding of flavors took it up a notch.