Beans beans the magical fruit…

Haha just kidding, let’s not go there.

Anyway.

I was peering in my fridge the other day, wondering what to do with some leftover canned chickpeas holed up in their tupperware (well, boujee glass container) neighboring my petite organic lime and mostly-eaten bag of Bunny-Luv baby carrots, when I thought to myself “let’s not make life more complicated than necessary.”

As usual.

Not that life has to be necessarily complicated at all.

But as lovely humans, we tend to make it so.

If you’re one of the fortunate few who have figured out how to uncomplicate every single aspect of life, could you be so kind as to tell all of us complicated humans your secret(s)?

Please and thank you.

Whew.

See what I mean?

Back to our canned chickpea gems…

I fancied up an idea for a pretty darn easy stew of sorts comprised of those chickpeas and basically all of the spices residing in my cupboard.

Plus some fresh toppings, to turn the otherwise very brownish, reddish, orangeish bowl into something a little more appealing to the eyeballs.

Really, you can whip this stew up in a mere 10 minutes.

Unless you’re unusually sluggish, then we’re looking at a solid 15-minute meal, which is still dang quick if you ask me.

(Microwave frozen pizzas and cold Thai leftovers do not count. Don’t even try to compare apples to oranges here.)

All you have to do is dump your chickpeas in a small pot with their chickpea liquid, then toss some minced fresh ginger in there along with ground trendy turmeric, earthy cumin, versatile curry powder, fragrant cardamom, cayenne pepper (for a kick!), salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bring to a simmer, cook for 5 minutes and you’re good to go! Top your stew off with a dollop of nonfat plain yogurt (use your favorite dairy-free variety or coconut milk to make this a vegan moment), creamy avocado slices, a squeeze of zesty lime juice, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a few sprigs of fresh cilantro, plus more salt and pepper to taste.

Dig. Innnn.

P.S. I’ve used lowfat cottage cheese in place of yogurt before… that’s pretty tasty too, but obviously not vegan.

P.P.S. You can adjust the spices to suit your taste. Nice! And if you don’t happen to have cardamom, for example, don’t sweat it. Just add more cayenne. Kidding again! Unless you enjoy playing with fire.

P.P.P.S. This recipe is pretty easy to double, or triple if you really want. Heck, invite the whole family over, Bumble boyfriends and all.

P.P.P.P.S. Serve with pita bread if you need some bready things in your life. (You do.)