Sometimes a meat free meal is an absolute must! I will go meat free at least once a week, twice if I can and fish once a week too. I think it is a good thing to give your system a bit of a rest from time to time from trying to digest too much meat. And everytime I do prepare a meat free feast, The Other Half is pleasantly surprised at how a) tasty it is (I try not to be offended by this remark!) and b) how fulfilling he finds it. This time of year I like to take advantage of the masses of fresh local Kale that is in its growing element right now. It’s a vegetable with almost magical properties!

Sometimes I will munch on nothing more than a bowl of steamed kale seasoned with a little salt, lashings of pepper and a little spritz of lemon juice – pure heaven and if it doesn’t sort out whatever mental or physical lagging you might be under, then nothing will!  There are many types of Kale – cavelo nero being my absolute favourite, and for this recipe you can choose whichever one is growing in your garden, for sale in your local farmers market or the supermarket.  This recipe using lovely Curly Kale which works well with capturing plenty of the curried sauce that the kale and the chickpeas sit in.  Plus this is a super quick recipe ready in about 20 mins.  No need for rice, but a chapati or two might not go amiss!  Eat yourself well with this and … Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3 shallots finely diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 green chilli (you’re looking for a background heat, but adjust your choice of chilli to suit your particular sensitivity to chilli!)
• 1/2 tsp ground tumeric
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 vegetable jelly stock cube
• 250ml cold water (you may need a little more later, you can decide for yourself)
• 400g can of cooked chickpeas, drained
• 400g can of chopped tomatoes
• 150g (apx or two big handfulls) of Kale, washed, dried and chopped
• Plenty of freshly cracked black pepper
• Sea salt to season to taste (there will be salt in the stock cube remember!)
• Chopped fresh coriander.

Method:

• Gently heat the oil in a non-stick pan.
• Add in the shallots, garlic and chilli and fry until just going soft (make sure they don’t burn).
• Add in the dried spices and stir into the shallot mix.  If it sticks a bit add a little water to loosen (not more oil).
• Add in the can of chopped tomatoes and chickpeas and stir to combine.
• Add in the vegetable stock and the water.  Stir again to combine.
• Cover and leave to simmer for about 10 minutes or so.
• Add in the kale and plenty of black pepper.
• Taste for seasoning and add salt to adjust.
• Add in the chopped coriander and serve up on warm plates with optional chapati.

Devour immediately!