Middle Eastern Chickpea & Rice Stew

Would you be surprised if I told you that I had never really tried chickpeas until I had this soup? I don't know why, but I just never did. I've been seeing a lot of chickpea recipes on many food blogs lately and thought I had to give it a try so I did, and now I'm in love with them. This stew is now one of my very favorites. It is a middle eastern style stew with my favorite seasonings, like cumin and coriander. I also enjoyed the rice and sweet potatoes in the soup. The original recipe doesn't call for any meat but we added one cooked, shredded chicken breast in it because my husband is a meat person and asked me nicely if I would add a little bit of meat. So I did. It was great in the stew. Oh and did I mention it is a low calorie soup? One bowl has about 320 calories (about 1 1/2 cups). Nice, right?!

Middle Eastern Chickpea and Rice Stew

Adapted and slightly changed from "Eating Well" cookbook

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin oil
1 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced (about 3 cups) *I omitted this because my hubby does not like onions. Sad for me.
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 cup orange juice
4 cups chicken broth
2 15-ounces chickpeas, rinsed
1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded (about 1 cup)
3 cups peeled and diced sweet potato
2/3 cup long grain rice (basmati or jasmine) *I used jasmine
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat; add onions and cook, stirring often, until tender and well browned, 10-12 minutes. Add cumin and coriander and stir for about 15 seconds. Add orange juice and broth. Stir in chickpeas, sweet potato, chicken, rice and salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the rice is tender and sweet potatoes are breaking down to thicken the liquid, about 45 minutes. (*I only cooked for 25-30 minutes and it turned out fabulous!) Season with pepper. (The stew will be thick and will thicken further upon standing. Add more broth to thin, if desired, or when reheating.) Serve topped with cilantro.