Chickpea Sauce

This was a little sauce I threw together yesterday, and I was so pleased with how it turned out.  We've had a stomach bug going around our family, so I wanted something kind of gentle to serve.  The sauce tasted kind of like hummus, which the girls adore, and we served it over brown rice.  It didn't photograph well at all, so this is just a recipe!

Chickpea Sauce (in the slow cooker)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, diced

ground cumin

dried oregano

salt & pepper

2 to 3 potatoes, scrubbed and sliced thin

2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 cups stock (veggie or chicken)

1 14oz can diced tomatoes

Heat up the olive oil in a large skillet.  Add the onion and cook until softened, 5 to 7 minutes.  Season with ground cumin,  dried oregano, and salt and pepper to taste; I used about 1 tsp of cumin, 1 tsp of oregano, and a few shakes of salt and pepper.  We would probably do more cumin in the future, but tailor to your family's taste buds.  Cook 1 minute more.

In the slow cooker, combine the potatoes, chickpeas, stock, tomatoes, and cooked onions.  Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, until potatoes are very tender.  I used a hand blender to puree most of the sauce, leaving a few chunky chick peas and potato pieces.  You could also (carefully!) blend some portion of the sauce in the blender or mash it by hand.

This was a great sauce for brown rice, but we will be having the leftovers over pasta.  We served some raw veggies as a side dish and had one of the most pleasant, food battle-free dinners we've had in a while!