Frugal Gluten-Free Chickpea Stew

With a lingering head cold clogging up the collective Jag sinus cavities, none of us wanted to cook, much less run to the store for dinner ingredients. Six bleary eyes lasered in on me, Chief Cook of the Household, so I was forced to stagger over to the kitchen. My trusty cookbook collection provided inspiration for using up a conglomeration of leftovers last night and it proved a success. Riffing off of a Mexican Sopa Seca recipe from one cookbook and a Moroccan stew from another, and then rolling the dice with the contents of my cupboards and many covered bowls from the fridge, I produced this tasty and frugal Chickpea Stew:

Frugal and Fragrant Chickpea Stew

1 cup cooked chickpeas
1 cup marinara sauce (mine had red wine, chunks of onion and garlic and red bell pepper)
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup sliced almonds
Diced red onion
Hot Cooked Rice

Steam up a pot of rice.

Toss everything else except the red onion into a pot and simmer, covered, 1/2 hour. If you don't have marinara sauce on hand, saute up some onion and garlic and then toss in some canned (or in season, fresh) tomatoes and simmer for 1/2 hour before you add all the other stuff.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve over hot cooked rice.

Top with diced red onion. I added some capers too, to my bowl.

Serves 4.