Spiced Chickpea Stew

My intention was to make Roasted Butternut Squash Panini for dinner tonight, but Whole Foods was out of butternut squashes. For shame, Whole Foods. For shame. So instead, I went with "Spiced Chickpea Stew With Coconut and Turmeric," from NYTimes Cooking.

I'll probably be referring you to a goodly number of NYTimes Cooking recipes this month and that makes me a little sheepish, because they do require a subscription. I have had a subscription for a little over a year and I use it all the time, so for me, it's worthwhile. I also like getting the NYTimes Cooking newsletter in my inbox, with recipe suggestions and editor Sam Sifton's musings on cooking and life in general. The email is free! Give it a try.

But here is my reservation about NYTimes Cooking: it's not a great go-to for vegetarian recipes. They're there, of course; there are thousands of recipes and inevitably a chunk of them are vegetarian. But I just feel that it's more oriented to meat-eaters. I have actually been thinking of contacting Sam Sifton about this. I'll keep you posted.

Anyway, the spiced stew is a good one. I halved the recipe and got 3ish servings, and used baby spinach for the greens. If you don't top it with yogurt, this is a vegan dish.

Garlic, onion, and ginger. And wine, of course.

Olive oil

I served the stew with biscuits from Mark Bittman's "How To Cook Everything," which I have owned in hard copy forever. That cookbook is my bible. As you will see, I first made these biscuits in 2006, when I was practically still a toddler, and I've been making them ever since. I make them with Greek yogurt.

***UPDATE as of April 2024: if you are looking for a gluten-free starch to serve with this stew, this flatbread recipe turned out great for me! https://beautyinthecrumbs.com/easiest-gluten-free-flatbread-recipe/