Melissa Hemsley
Chef and best selling author, lover of leftovers and seasonal vegetables and regular volunteer with food waste charities, kids community cooking and ambassador of Fairtrade farmers.
Mel’s Spanish Chickpea & Almond Stew
Melissa Hemsley
Effort:
Complexity:
Cost:
In season now
Serves: 4
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 25 mins
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons chopped or flaked almonds
1½ tablespoons butter or ghee
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large red or orange pepper, deseeded and chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large handful of fresh parsley, stalks finely chopped and leaves roughly chopped
1 tablespoon tomato purée
2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
2 x 400g tins of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
100ml stock/bone broth or water (optional)
250g spinach
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Sea salt and black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil, to serve
Spices
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Veg Portions / Serving: 3
Recipe donated by Melissa Hemsley for Veg Power. Recipe from "Eat Happy" by Melissa Hemsley. Photography by Issy Croker | issycroker.com
Using store cupboard staples and spinach from the freezer, this Seville-inspired stew comes together in under 20 minutes and is a hit with everyone. You could swap the spinach for other greens, such as chopped chard, or add extra bits and bobs, such as a few tablespoons of capers, olives or chopped sun-dried tomatoes. I love this as a stew-like soup in a bowl, but you could make it thicker and serve with a side of quinoa.
Method:
In a large, deep frying pan, toast the almonds over a medium heat for just under a minute until golden, then set aside. Melt the butter in the hot pan, add the onion and pepper and fry for 6 minutes until starting to soften.
Add the garlic, spices and parsley stalks and fry for 1 minute, stirring constantly to prevent them from burning, then add the tomato purée and cook for another 30 seconds.
Tip the tinned tomatoes into the pan, turn up the heat to a medium simmer and cook for 15 minutes, uncovered, to thicken and reduce. Add the chickpeas and cook for another 3 minutes with a lid on. If you want the stew to be more soup- like, add the stock.
Turn up the heat, drop in the spinach and cook for 1 minute, covered with the lid, then add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
Serve each bowl with a good drizzle of olive oil and with the parsley leaves and toasted almonds scattered over.
Engaging Kids
Kids who engage regularly with veg through veg-themed activities, such as arts and crafts, sensory experiences, growing and cooking are shown to be more likely to eat the veg they engage with. Encouraging kids to engage and play with veg is the handy first step to them developing a good relationship with veg and life-long healthy eating.
Kids in the kitchen
The kids might like helping with this one by peeling the garlic and onion, squeezing the lemon juice and washing the chickpeas. They can also measure out the tomato puree and add it to the stew.
Find more ideas, safety tips, videos and even a free chart in our Kids in the Kitchen section here.
Activities
Why not try making a pepper face mask a cut-out and colour pepper, or veg crown?
Or grab some of our free games & puzzles with peppers like our Shaun the Sheep – Amazing Pepper Chase (or our other Shaun-themed pepper activities), our Chop Chop pepper game or our Spot the pepper game?
Find loads more free pepper-themed crafts here and games here.
Sensory
Grab a couple of different coloured peppers and explore what they look like together – what do they remind you of? Encourage imagination, allowing them to explore with their senses, perhaps shaking, tearing, or sniffing it. Try cutting one lengthways and see what they think it looks like now – do they see a scary face or something else? Let them be curious and come up with mad ideas to keep it fun!
Watch our video from Ruth Platt for a visual guide to exploring peppers with your senses here. Find more sensory ideas, tips and videos here. If you get stuck and need a little help with describing words, we have a selection for you here, too!
Serving
This meal is quite bitty with lots of ingredients – perfect for coming up with a funny name! Let your kid’s imagination run wild coming up with a playful name for the dish. Maybe they can even design a banner with it on.
Find the best ways of involving your own child and their skills and interests on our Roles for Kids page.
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