Spanish Spinach & Chickpeas

Ingredients:
250 grams of fresh spinach
150 grams of chickpeas
3 cloves of garlic
1tsp of cumin seeds
1 tbsp of smoked, sweet paprika powder
Wine vinegar
Olive oil
Salt to taste
Preparation:

  1. If using dried chickpeas:- soak them overnight in water as per instructions. Drain the water and transfer the chickpeas to a cooking pot. Cover them with water and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and let them simmer for at least an hour, or until soft. Drain and allow to cool.

If using chickpeas from a tin or jar: skip step 1.

  1. Clean, wash and dry the spinach.
  1. Peel and chop the garlic cloves; if the spinach leaves are very big coarsely chop them as well.
  1. Put some olive oil in a pan on medium heat and add the garlic. When it starts to brown add the cumin seeds and allow to toast for a very short time. Put the garlic-cumin mix in a mortar and use the pestle to crush them.
  1. Add the garlic-cumin mix to the pan with some more olive oil. Add the spinach and the paprika powder.
  1. When the spinach is wilted, add a generous splash of vinegar. If necessary, add some water to avoid the spinach from sticking to the pan.
  1. Add the chickpeas. Cover the pan. Stir occasionally. After 5 minutes, remove the lid and let it simmer for another 5 minutes.
  1. Taste the spinach and chickpeas. You will find that the paprika powder and the cumin seeds already add a lot of flavour, but you season it further with some salt to taste.
  1. Serve with bread and enjoy!

Suggestion: you can lightly roast the chickpeas in the oven to add some more texture and flavour.
With thanks to the lovely people at www.spain-holiday.com for this super vegan recipe! 😀