Vegan Chickpea Vegetable Curry Stew with Harissa

Felt ambitious enough today to try to find a way to use up some cooked chickpeas and experiment with Harissa, a very spicy chile paste that comes in a tube. It is deliciously spicy and adds so much depth to any dish.

This kind of stew is so easy to make because you can just throw in whatever vegetables you have on hand. I started by sauteeing a chopped onion, two stalks of chopped celery, two chopped carrots, one chopped yellow bell pepper, five cloves of chopped garlic and grated fresh ginger in a tablespoon of coconut oil. Then I started building the spices. I just eyeballed everything: teaspoon of cumin seeds, black mustard seeds, corriander, tumeric, garam masala, pinch of dried oregano and paprika. I let the spices coat the veggies and seasoned everything with salt and pepper. Then I added one tablespoon of harissa, one tablespoon of tomato paste and one serrano chile cut down the middle (but still attached at the stem). Next, I added one chopped zucchini and one chopped sweet potato, one can of cut tomatoes, about two cups of cooked chickpeas, two handfuls of kale, one cup of cooked pearl barley and one can of coconut cream. I let that come to a boil and simmered it over low for 20 minutes to thicken. I had to leave the house so I threw the stew in the slow cooker on low and it simmered on low for about 5-6 hours. Before I served this stew, I stirred in one cup of frozen roasted corn to let warm through. I toasted up some pine nuts and cut some cilantro and mint for garnish. This chickpea vegetable curry stew with harissa can be served over rice or by itself with the garnishes of toasted pine nuts, cilantro and mint. The mint nicely counters the heat of the harissa and the pine nuts at a buttery crunch. I really enjoyed this stew and I love how filling it is. This is the kind of stew that makes you feel good about getting your veggies in for the day! Plus, it is so flavorful that you will enjoy it even if you're not Vegan! Did I mention this is a good "use up" stew, so you can use up any veggies that need to be cooked before they go bad? Love this flexible kind of cooking!