I give you … dinner

Oh, my, we had the best dinner last night. I spent a little bit of time during the day cruising the interwebs for a curry recipe that used chickpeas and chicken, of which there are plenty. I ended up kind of throwing together a concoction using ingredients from this one and that one, trying to keep it low in fat and full of flavor.

I succeeded beyond all expectations.

Chicken and Chickpea Curry
Serves 4

Ingredients
Cooking spray
3 small chicken breasts (about 12 ounces), cut in bite-sized pieces
1 lb. sliced fresh mushrooms
1 red pepper, cut in large dice
1/2 cup frozen sweet peas
2 Tblsp. curry powder (or to taste)
2 Tblsp. chili sauce (optional)
1 cup chickpeas•
1 can low-fat coconut milk
1 can diced tomatoes with juice
Hot cooked rice

Method
Spray a large, deep stainless-steel pan with cooking spray. Add chicken pieces and sauté until browned and nearly cooked through. Add sliced mushrooms and diced pepper to pan, cook and stir for three to five minutes. Add peas.

Stir in curry powder and chili sauce, if using. (The chili sauce adds a lot of heat. Use less or eliminate it altogether if you don't care for spicy curry.) Add the chickpeas, coconut milk and tomatoes.

Mix thoroughly, bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and let simmer until the liquid has cooked down considerably. This should take about 45 minutes.

Serve in shallow bowls over hot cooked rice.

• I used cooked dried garbanzo beans rather than canned chickpeas. You could use canned, but the sodium content of the finished dish will be higher and the texture of the beans will be mushier. 

Nutrition information per serving:
Calories: 305
Total Fat: 8.6 g
Sat. Fat: 4.5 g
Cholesterol: 54.8mg
Sodium: 221.1mg
Carb: 27.5 g
Fiber: 4.4 g
Sugars: 8 g
Protein 26.6 g

This was a seriously tasty dish.

I spent part of the afternoon cooking the garbanzo beans and rice. I never make enough of either for just one meal, but instead cook huge pots of them (I also do black, kidney and navy beans like this) and then portion them into quart-sized freezer bags, two cups of food per bag. Once frozen, they store flat and are so handy to just thaw (or nuke) and add to a recipe. That's your kitchen tip du jour.

Bon appétit!