Eggplant Chickpea Curry (Plus Variation For Leftovers)

So really, the recipe just served as a reminder that eggplant tastes nice with Indian spices. I’m not sure where the recipe came from, a friend had printed it from an email sent by another friend.

I was having way too much fun adding colorful vegetables, so this dish wound up making quite a bit – especially with the chickpeas. That was great, because we then had enough for lunch the next day.

When I went to eat the leftovers I felt like freshening them up a bit, so I added some spinach, corn and some extra seasonings. I ate it cold and it was delicious, but you can also reheat.

I do things like that a lot in my online meal plan. When I was laying out every single meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks), I wanted to make sure the meal prep was manageable and realistic while still keeping things interesting.

Online meal plan program {jumi [files/includes/youtube.php] [XgbIfCgFdhM]}

Ingredients

• 1 eggplant, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp olive oil, or 1 Tbsp veggie broth, water or white wine
• pinch salt
• 1 tsp each cumin, coriander, ground (or fresh) ginger and curry powder
• 1/2 tsp cardamom (optional)
• 1 19oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained (about 2 cups cooked)
• 1 cup broccoli, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/2 can coconut milk
• 1/4-1/2 tsp salt, to taste
• 2 Tbsp toasted sunflower seeds

Directions

1. Saute the eggplant, onion and garlic in a bit of oil, veggie broth, water or white wine. If the eggplant looks like it needs more moisture, add a pinch of salt to the pan before adding oil and see the moisture start to come out.
2. Once the onions are softened, add the spices and a pinch of salt if you haven’t added it already.
3. Add the chickpeas to the pan, and stir them in to get infused with the flavor of the spices.
4. Add the rest of the chopped veggies and parsley, and another pinch of salt to help them soften quickly. Stir the fresh vegetables in, and give them just a few minutes on the heat to soften but not cook too much.
5. Stir in the coconut milk and add enough salt to bring out and merge the flavors of all the spices.
6. Serve on its own or over a bed of brown rice, quinoa, fresh spinach or kale. Top it off with some toasted sunflower seeds or another nut/seed.

Variation For Leftovers

Prep time:10 minutes

• 2 servings from above
• 1 cup spinach, chopped
• 1 cup fresh or frozen corn or peas
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp tamari (soy sauce)
• 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 Tbsp toasted sunflower seeds

Directions

1. Heat the leftovers with the added veggies and seasonings mixed in, either on the stove (which is fast, though you may want to add a bit more liquid so it doesn’t burn) or in the oven or toaster oven (which will take longer to heat through). Top it off with the sunflower seeds or another seed/nut. Or you can enjoy this cold, which is what I did and it made for a yummy salad.

Do you like saving time by using leftovers, or do you prefer making meals fresh? Let me know what you think below.