Slow-Cooker Chickpea Stew with Apricots
See this recipe featured on SkinnyMs.com.
Weather: 16 degrees, clear
What I’m listening to: American Idol auditions
I’m pretty stinking excited to report that I already fulfilled one of my New Year’s resolutions. Recently, I had the privilege of eating dinner with several Alaska food writers (bloggers, cookbook authors, chefs, etc.) in Anchorage. Chef Rob Kinneen made a delicious kale salad with quinoa, parsnips, goat cheese, and roasted beets. As soon as I heard there were beets on the table, I knew it was my chance.
The colorful root vegetable I had avoided all of my adult life for fear that they taste like the canned version that traumatized me as a child was staring me right in the face. But, I was so excited to fulfill a promise I had made to all of you, that I fearlessly shoveled the salad into my mouth – and loved it. Try fresh beets: check! And I’ll gladly eat them again next time I have an opportunity. Now I need to cook them at home next and blog about it. Perhaps. But not today… today we’re talking about this fabulous Slow-Cooker Chickpea Stew with Apricots, and another root vegetable – turnips.
Turnips, when they’re raw, have a similar flavor and texture to radishes, in my opinion. They’re white on the inside, crisp, and a little spicy. But, when they’re slow-cooked in the crockpot with tomatoes, onions, garlic, apricots, cumin, and chicken broth, they become tender and take on a completely different flavor, more subtle. If you didn’t know they were turnips, you’d probably assume there were potatoes in your stew. If you are afraid of turnips or don’t care for them, feel free to omit them or replace them with something else – I think cauliflower would be delicious.
This stew is simple to make and has great flavor. The prep work takes about 15 minutes. I threw mine in the crockpot at lunchtime, and after 4 short hours on high, it was ready. And cooking a batch of couscous to go with it takes less than 10 minutes. It’s a great weeknight meal option. It reheats beautifully, too, if you have leftovers.
Slow Cooker Chickpea Stew with Apricots
Ingredients
- 30 ounces canned chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 28 ounces canned diced tomatoes
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 onion peeled and finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ¾ cup chopped turnips
- ½ cup chopped dried apricots (I used Turkish dried apricots)
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper or more to taste
For Serving:
- chopped cilantro
- lemon wedges
Instructions
- Toss all the ingredients into a slow cooker and stir to combine. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours.
- Taste for seasoning and add more salt as needed. Serve with fresh cilantro and lemon wedges over steamed couscous.
Nutrition
Way to get a jump start on the new year! Beets really are so delicious – glad you finally caved and tried them!
Thanks so much for the encouragement, Jess! 🙂
Beautiful and delicious! What an excellent slow cooker meal. Pinned!
@KaristasKitchen Thanks Karista! It’s yummy! 🙂
Wow this looks delicious! I am definitely going to have to try this recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Sincerely,
<a href=”http://www.happyvalleychow.com”>Happy Valley Chow</a>
This recipe looks fantastic, and I’m SO glad you tried and liked beets! I avoided them for my entire life until one day when they were these delicious, flavorful things in my mouth. Now, I roast them with balsamic vinegar and olive oil all the time. Yum!
I need to try more with beets. This stew looks great, I love apricot.
I love chickpeas and am always looking for new recipes to use them, this sounds great!
This is delicious! My 2 year old has had 2 bowls and keeps asking for more and that doesn’t happen all that often. Thanks for the healthy and easy recipe. This is the second one of yours I’ve tried and the family is very fond of both.
Oh hooray! Always love it when the kids and the parents are both happy with a recipe! That means it’s a real keeper in our house. Come back soon!
This looks delicious! However I am not a fan of apricots. Is there a substitute or would you just omit them?
Golden raisins might be a nice substitute. Enjoy!
Made this today and will keep it in frequent rotation. Super easy recipe; house smells great; and it’s really delicious. Thank you!
Could this be chopped, bagged, frozen, and thrown in the slow cooker later? Thanks!
What size slow cooker as I have only a 3 quart size ?
Not sure why you’re using canned garbanzo beans. It’s a slow cooker… therefore, dried garbanzo beans will cook in 6-8 hours (start in morning before work and come home to a hot, home-cooked meal) and the flavor is even better, without all the preservatives.