Chickpea and Tomato Ragout with Couscous
Cook a meatless meal once a week and you’ll discover the range of satisfying legumes, grains, and vegetables. Here, the supper is a ragout of tomatoes, onions, and chickpeas served over couscous. Into this bowl of rich, warming flavors and textures, stir chopped cooked greens, if you like, for added nutrients.
It’s best to start with dried chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans), which cook in about 2 1/2 hours, a little faster if the beans are first soaked overnight. (You can use a quicker hot-soak method by bringing the beans and plenty of water to a boil, simmering for 2 minutes, then covering the pot and setting them aside for 1 hour; drain and then cook to doneness.) Or use canned beans.
If you use dried, 1 pound yields about 6 1/2 cups cooked, so you’ll have enough left to make a second dinner of chickpea burgers. These veggie burgers, seasoned with cilantro and scallions, are lighter and fresher than the patties you might find in your grocer’s freezer section. The tasty rounds might just satisfy your craving for a burger. You may find yourself making two meatless meals a week.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes, crushed
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup cold water
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and black pepper, to taste
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
3 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 cans (15 ounces each) chickpeas, drained
1 1/4 cups couscous
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1. In a large flameproof casserole, heat the oil over medium heat. Cook the onion, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, cold water, cumin, thyme, salt, black pepper, and red pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat.
2. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Stir in the chickpeas and simmer for 10 minutes more. Taste for seasoning and add more salt or red pepper, if you like. If it seems too thick, add a little more water.
4. In a bowl, combine the couscous and boiling water. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes.
5. Divide the couscous among 4 bowls. Ladle the chickpea mixture on top. (Save 1/2 cup chickpea mixture for the burgers.) Garnish with parsley.
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