When I get bored, I like to try new things.
Sometimes, I chop off all my hair. Other times I learn a new skill. Most of the time, however, I try a new cuisine. This week, I was very inspired by Persian food and flavors.
Maybe I was just knocked on the right path by both of my posts this week (the one about cooking with the seasons and the one about relieving nutritional boredom). What started off as a riff on a chicken pot pie ended up something else entirely – something new and interesting. Something from a cuisine that I’m not super familiar with.
When I haven’t tried a cuisine before, and I am interested in exploring it, I generally start with a specific recipe. I look at the ingredients. First, do I have them around? Second, do I like the overall flavors?
If the answer is yes, then I make the dish. Here’s where it gets fun – once you know how flavors work, you can adapt them to your tastes. It’s sometimes not particularly authentic, but that’s how food and cuisine evolves. Or, if you are like me, and have trouble following instructions, a knowledge of ingredients and flavors definitely works in your favor.
It is still winter in Arizona (we even had a frost warning this morning!), and soup happens to be the all-time BEST winter food. I also happen to be a HUGE fan of citrus in dishes – and as a result of this recipe, I have 100% fallen in love with dried Persian limes. They have it all – brightness and acidity with an extremely long shelf life! And, with every recipe, I love to add as many vegetables as I can (because they’re DELICIOUS), so I couldn’t resist adding in some kale I picked up at the farmer’s market that morning.
Dried Persian Limes are made by boiling small, fresh limes in salt brine, and then afterwards are left out in the sun to dry. I bought mine from Amazon, and they were relatively inexpensive (about $10 a package). I would definitely say that they are worth every penny.
This stew has everything – a sour, bright undertone from the limes, an earthiness from the turmeric, heraciousness from the (you guessed it) herbs, and meatiness from the chickpeas. As written, this recipe is vegan and gluten-free, but you can always add meat to it (I like chicken, since that is the meat and broth used in the original recipe). It’s SUPER easy to make as well – and it makes enough to enjoy for at least a couple of days!!
You can find the original recipe for a stew called ghormeh sabzi that inspired my dish here.
Persian-Inspired Chickpea and Kale Stew
Ingredients
- 2 bunches Lacinato Kale ribs removed and roughly chopped
- 2 cans chickpeas (2 cups if using dried)
- 1 tbsp tumeric
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 1 bunch scallions chopped
- 1 bunch parsley chopped
- 1 bunch cilantro chopped
- 6-8 cups vegetable stock/water
- 1 tbsp fenugreek
- 5 dried Persian Limes
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- Chop onions. Add onions and tumeric to stock pot with 2T olive oil on stove at medium heat. Cook until onions have sweat and are translucent.
- Add kale, parsley, cilantro, and cook until all are wilted.
- Add stock, fenugreek, and limes. Cook 15 minutes.
- Add chickpeas. Take 3-4 of the limes and pierce them with a knife multiple times. Cook an additional 15 minutes at medium, covered.
- Serve with pita bread or rice, and/or chicken.
