Vegetable and Chickpea Curry

I bought a slow cooker what feels like ages ago, and here I am finally trying it out. I have long heard slow cookers touted as a way to make a delicious meal, set the slow cooker on, go about your day, and come home to find it ready. And I have to admit, I'm an instant convert! I intend to try out a batch of other slow cooker recipes soon, but for tonight, I made this curry.

The recipe calls for 3 cups of cooked garbanzo beans. You have 3 ways to do this: the quick, the medium, and the slow.

Quick, of course, is to buy a couple cans of garbanzo beans, drain 'em, and 'em to the recipe. Medium is to soak dried chickpeas for about 8 hours, then cook in boiling water for 2 hours.

But because I was trying out my slow cooker, I opted for the slow method - soak the chickpeas for 8 hours, then cook in the slow cooker with 6 cups of water for 9 hours on HIGH (d0 this the day before, obviously!). Of course, most of that time I was sleeping, so don't think the "slow" method will take up your day!

Now onto the actual recipe:

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add 1 and 1/2 cups chopped onion and 1 cup (1/4-inch thick) slices of carrot; cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon curry powder, 1 teaspoon organic brown sugar, 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (I minced mine by accident, but that worked fine), 2 minced garlic cloves, and 1 seeded and minced serrano chile; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Transfer the onion mixture to a 5- or 6-quart electric slow cooker. Add 3 cups cooked chickpeas, 1 and 1/2 cups peeled and cubed baking potato, 1 cup diced green bell pepper, 1 cup green beans (cut into 1-inch pieces), 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. black pepper, 1/8 tsp. ground red pepper, 1 (14-ounce) undrained can of diced tomatoes, and 1 (14-ounce) can of vegetable broth. Cover and cook for about 6 hours on HIGH - make sure you read the owner's manual of whatever brand you own; your cooking time might vary slightly. I stopped just short of 6 hours.

Before serving, stir in 3 cups fresh spinach and 1 cup light coconut milk; stir until the spinach wilts.

Ladle 1 and 1/3 cups curry into each of 6 bowls; serve each with a wedge of lemon. Each serving is 280 calories.

Cost:
onion $1.00
carrot $0.42
serrano chile $1.48
dried chickpeas $2.87
baking potato $1.02
green beans $0.50
ground red pepper $2.69
canned diced tomatoes $2.19
canned vegetable broth $1.47
fresh spinach $2.50
light coconut milk $2.39
lemon $0.69